Antibodies to monocyte-colony inhibitory factor (M-CIF)

ABSTRACT

There are disclosed therapeutic compositions and methods using isolated nucleic acid molecules encoding a human myeloid progenitor inhibitory factor-1 (MPIF-1) polypeptide (previously termed MIP-3 and chemokine β8 (CKβ8 or ckb-8)); a human monocyte-colony inhibitory factor (M-CIF) polypeptide (previously termed MIP1-γ and chemokine β1 (CKβ1 or ckb-1)), and a macrophage inhibitory protein-4 (MIP-4), as well as MPIF-1, M-CIF and/or MIP-4 polypeptides themselves, as are vectors, host cells and recombinant methods for producing the same.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.09/571,013, filed May 15, 2000 (now U.S. Pat. No. 6,811,773, issued Nov.2, 2004), which is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.08/941,020, filed Sep. 30, 1997 (now abandoned), which claims benefitunder 35 U.S.C. § 119(e) of U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/027,299and 60/027,300, both filed on Sep. 30, 1996; U.S. application Ser. No.08/941,020 is also a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No.08/722,723, filed Sep. 30, 1996 (now abandoned), and a continuation inpart of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/722,719, filed Sep. 30, 1996 (nowU.S. Pat. No. 6,001,606, issued Dec. 14, 1999); U.S. application Ser.No. 08/722,723 is a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No.08/468,775, filed Jun. 6, 1995 (now abandoned), and a continuation inpart of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/465,682, filed Jun. 6, 1995 (nowabandoned), and a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No.08/446,881 filed May 5, 1995 (now abandoned); U.S. application Ser. No.08/722,719 is a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No.08/468,775, filed Jun. 6, 1995 (now abandoned), and continuation in partof U.S. application Ser. No. 08/465,682, filed Jun. 6, 1995 (nowabandoned), and a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No.08/446,881, filed May 5, 1995 (now abandoned); U.S. application Ser. No.08/468,775 is a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No.08/173,209, filed Dec. 22, 1993 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,767, issuedSep. 17, 1996), and a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No.08/208,339, filed Mar. 8, 1994 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,003, issued Apr.2, 1996), and a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/446,881,filed May 5, 1995 (now abandoned); U.S. application Ser. No. 08/465,682is a continuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/173,209, filedDec. 22, 1993 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,767, issued Sep. 17, 1996), and acontinuation in part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/208,339, filed Mar.8, 1994 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,003, issued Apr. 2, 1996), and acontinuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/446,881, filed May 5, 1995(now abandoned); U.S. application Ser. No. 08/446,881 is a continuationin part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/173,209, filed Dec. 22, 1993(now U.S. Pat. No. 5,556,767, issued Sep. 17, 1996), and a continuationin part of U.S. application Ser. No. 08/208,339, filed Mar. 8, 1994 (nowU.S. Pat. No. 5,504,003, issued Apr. 2, 1996).

U.S. Provisional Application Nos. 60/027,299 and 60/027,300 are hereinincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to novel chemokine polypeptides andencoding nucleic acids. More specifically, therapeutic compositions andmethods are provided using isolated nucleic acid molecules encoding ahuman myeloid progenitor inhibitory factor-1 (MPIF-1) polypeptide(previously termed MIP-3 and chemokine β8 (CKβ8 or ckb-8)); a humanmonocyte-colony inhibitory factor (M-CIF) polypeptide (previously termedMIP1-γ and chemokine β1 (CKβ1 or ckb-1)), and a macrophage inhibitoryprotein-4 (MIP-4), as well as MPIF-1, M-CIF and/or MIP-4 polypeptidesthemselves, as are vectors, host cells and recombinant methods forproducing the same.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Chemokines, also referred to as intercrine cytokines, are a subfamily ofstructurally and functionally related cytokines. These molecules are8–14 kd in size. In general chemokines exhibit 20% to 75% homology atthe amino acid level and are characterized by four conserved cysteineresidues that form two disulfide bonds. Based on the arrangement of thefirst two cysteine residues, chemokines have been classified into twosubfamilies, alpha and beta. In the alpha subfamily, the first twocysteines are separated by one amino acid and hence are referred to asthe “C-X-C” subfamily. In the beta subfamily, the two cysteines are inan adjacent position and are, therefore, referred to as the -C-C-subfamily. Thus far, at least eight different members of this familyhave been identified in humans.

The intercrine cytokines exhibit a wide variety of functions. A hallmarkfeature is their ability to elicit chemotactic migration of distinctcell types, including monocytes, neutrophils, T lymphocytes, basophilsand fibroblasts. Many chemokines have proinflammatory activity and areinvolved in multiple steps during an inflammatory reaction. Theseactivities include stimulation of histamine release, lysosomal enzymeand leukotriene release, increased adherence of target immune cells toendothelial cells, enhanced binding of complement proteins, inducedexpression of granulocyte adhesion molecules and complement receptors,and respiratory burst. In addition to their involvement in inflammation,certain chemokines have been shown to exhibit other activities. Forexample, macrophage inflammatory protein I (MIP-1) is able to suppresshematopoietic stem cell proliferation, platelet factor-4 (PF-4) is apotent inhibitor of endothelial cell growth, Interleukin-8 (IL-8)promotes proliferation of keratinocytes, and GRO is an autocrine growthfactor for melanoma cells.

In light of the diverse biological activities, it is not surprising thatchemokines have been implicated in a number of physiological and diseaseconditions, including lymphocyte trafficking, wound healing,hematopoietic regulation and immunological disorders such as allergy,asthma and arthritis. An example of a hematopoietic lineage regulator isMIP-1. MIP-1 was originally identified as an endotoxin-inducedproinflammatory cytokine produced from macrophages. Subsequent studieshave shown that MIP-1 is composed of two different, but related,proteins MIP-1α and MIP-1β. Both MIP-1α and MIP-1β are chemo-attractantsfor macrophages, monocytes and T lymphocytes. Interestingly, biochemicalpurification and subsequent sequence analysis of a multipotent stem cellinhibitor (SCI) revealed that SCI is identical to MIP-1β. Furthermore,it has been shown that MIP-1β can counteract the ability of MIP-1α tosuppress hematopoietic stem cell proliferation. This finding leads tothe hypothesis that the primary physiological role of MIP-1 is toregulate hematopoiesis in bone marrow, and that the proposedinflammatory function is secondary. The mode of action of MIP-1α as astem cell inhibitor relates to its ability to block the cell cycle atthe G₂S interphase. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of MIP-1α seemsto be restricted to immature progenitor cells and it is actuallystimulatory to late progenitors in the presence of granulocytemacrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF).

Murine MIP-1 is a major secreted protein from lipopolysaccharidestimulated RAW 264.7, a murine macrophage tumor cell line. It has beenpurified and found to consist of two related proteins, MIP-1α andMIP-1β.

Several groups have cloned what are likely to be the human homologs ofMIP-1α and MIP-1β. In all cases, cDNAs were isolated from librariesprepared against activated T-cell RNA.

MIP-1 proteins can be detected in early wound inflammation cells andhave been shown to induce production of IL-1 and IL-6 from woundfibroblast cells. In addition, purified native MIP-1 (comprising MIP-1,MIP-1α and MIP-1β polypeptides) causes acute inflammation when injectedeither subcutaneously into the footpads of mice or intracistemally intothe cerebrospinal fluid of rabbits (Wolpe and Cerami, FASEB J. 3:2565–73(1989)). In addition to these proinflammatory properties of MIP-1, whichcan be direct or indirect, MIP-1 has been recovered during the earlyinflammatory phases of wound healing in an experimental mouse modelemploying sterile wound chambers (Fahey, et al. Cytokine, 2:92 (1990)).For example, PCT application U.S. 92/05198 filed by Chiron Corporation,discloses a DNA molecule which is active as a template for producingmammalian macrophage inflammatory proteins (MIPs) in yeast.

The murine MIP-1α and MIP-1β are distinct but closely related cytokines.Partially purified mixtures of the two proteins affect neutrophilfunction and cause local inflammation and fever. MIP-1α has beenexpressed in yeast cells and purified to homogeneity. Structuralanalysis confirmed that MIP-1α has a very similar secondary and tertiarystructure to platelet factor 4 (PF-4) and interleukin 8 (IL-8) withwhich it shares limited sequence homology. It has also been demonstratedthat MIP-1α is active in vivo to protect mouse stem cells fromsubsequent in vitro killing by tritiated thymidine. MIP-1α was alsoshown to enhance the proliferation of more committed progenitorgranulocyte macrophage colony-forming cells in response to granulocytemacrophage colony-stimulating factor. (Clemens, J. M. et al., Cytokine4:76–82 (1992)).

The polypeptides of the present invention, M-CIF originally referred toas MIP-1γ and Ckβ-1 in the parent patent application, is a new member ofthe β chemokine family based on amino sequence homology. The MPIF-1polypeptide, originally referred to as MIP-3 and Ckβ-8 in the parentapplication, is also a new member of the β chemokine family based on theamino acid sequence homology.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, there areprovided novel full length or mature polypeptides which are MPIF-1,MIP-4 and/or M-CIF, as well as biologically active, diagnosticallyuseful or therapeutically useful fragments, analogs and derivativesthereof. The MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF of the present invention arepreferably of animal origin, and more preferably of human origin.

In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there areprovided polynucleotides (DNA or RNA) which encode such polypeptides andisolated nucleic acid molecules encoding such polypeptides, includingmRNAs, DNAs, cDNAs, genomic DNA as well as biologically active anddiagnostically or therapeutically useful fragments, analogs andderivatives thereof.

MPIF-1 Polynucleotides. The present invention also provides isolatednucleic acid molecules comprising a polynucleotide encoding the MPIF-1polypeptide having the amino acid sequence shown in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4)or the amino acid sequence encoded by the cDNA clone deposited as ATCC®Deposit Number 75676 on Feb. 9, 1994. The nucleotide sequence determinedby sequencing the deposited MPIF-1 clone, which is shown in FIG. 1 (SEQID NO:3), contains an open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 120amino acid residues, with a leader sequence of about 21 amino acidresidues, and a predicted molecular weight for the mature protein ofabout 11 kDa in non-glycosylated form, and about 11–14 kDa inglycosylated form, depending on the extent of glycoslyation. The aminoacid sequence of the mature MPIF-1 protein is shown in FIG. 1 (SEQ IDNO:4).

Thus, one aspect of the invention provides an isolated nucleic acidmolecule comprising a polynucleotide having a nucleotide sequenceselected from the group consisting of: (1)(a) a nucleotide sequenceencoding an MPIF-1 polypeptide having the complete amino acid sequencein FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4); (1)(b) a nucleotide sequence encoding theMPIF-1 polypeptide having the complete amino acid sequence in FIG. 1(SEQ ID NO:4) but minus the N-terminal methionine residue; (1)(c) anucleotide sequence encoding the mature MPIF-1 polypeptide having theamino acid sequence at positions 22–120 in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4); (1)(d)a nucleotide sequence encoding the MPIF-1 polypeptide having thecomplete amino acid sequence encoded by the cDNA clone contained inATCC® Deposit No. 75676; (1)(e) a nucleotide sequence encoding themature MPIF-1 polypeptide having the amino acid sequence encoded by thecDNA clone contained in ATCC® Deposit No. 75676; and (1)(f) a nucleotidesequence complementary to any of the nucleotide sequences in (1)-(a),(b), (c), (d), or (e) above.

M-CIF Polynucleotides. In one aspect, the present invention providesisolated nucleic acid molecules comprising a polynucleotide encoding theM-CIF polypeptide having the amino acid sequence shown in FIG. 2 (SEQ IDNO:2) or the amino acid sequence encoded by the cDNA clone deposited asATCC® Deposit Number 75572 on Oct. 13, 1993. The nucleotide sequencedetermined by sequencing the deposited M-CIF clone, which is shown inFIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:1), contains an open reading frame encoding apolypeptide of 93 amino acid residues, with a leader sequence of about19 amino acid residues, and a predicted molecular weight of about 9 kDain non-glycosylated form, and about 9–14 kDa in glycosylated form,depending on the extent of glycoslyation. The amino acid sequence of themature M-CIF protein is shown in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2).

Thus, one aspect of the invention provides an isolated nucleic acidmolecule comprising a polynucleotide having a nucleotide sequenceselected from the group consisting of: (2)(a) a nucleotide sequenceencoding the M-CIF polypeptide having the complete amino acid sequencein FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2); (2)(b) a nucleotide sequence encoding the M-CIFpolypeptide having the complete amino acid sequence in FIG. 2 (SEQ IDNO:2) but minus the N-terminal methionine residue; (2)(c) a nucleotidesequence encoding the mature M-CIF polypeptide having the amino acidsequence at positions 20–93 in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2); (2)(d) a nucleotidesequence encoding the M-CIF polypeptide having the complete amino acidsequence encoded by the cDNA clone contained in ATCC® Deposit No. 75572;(2)(e) a nucleotide sequence encoding the mature M-CIF polypeptidehaving the amino acid sequence encoded by the cDNA clone contained inATCC® Deposit No. 75572; and (2)(f) a nucleotide sequence complementaryto any of the nucleotide sequences in (2)-(a), (b), (c), (d), or (e)above.

MIP-4 Polynucleotides. The present invention further provides isolatednucleic acid molecules comprising a polynucleotide encoding the MIP-4polypeptide having the amino acid sequence shown in FIG. 3 (SEQ ID NO:6)or the amino acid sequence encoded by the cDNA clone deposited as ATCC®Deposit Number 75675 on Feb. 9, 1994. The nucleotide sequence determinedby sequencing the deposited MIP-4 clone, which is shown in FIG. 3 (SEQID NO:5), contains an open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 89amino acid residues, with a leader sequence of about 20 amino acidresidues, and a predicted molecular weight of about 8 kDa innon-glycosylated form, and about 8–14 kDa in glycosylated form,depending on the extent of glycoslyation. The amino acid sequence of themature MIP-4 protein is shown in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:6).

Another aspect of the invention provides an isolated nucleic acidmolecule comprising a polynucleotide having a nucleotide sequenceselected from the group consisting of: (3)(a) a nucleotide sequenceencoding the MIP-4 polypeptide having the complete amino acid sequencein FIG. 3 (SEQ ID NO:6); (3)(b) a nucleotide sequence encoding the MIP-4polypeptide having the complete amino acid sequence in FIG. 3 (SEQ IDNO:6) but minus the N-terminal methionine residue; (3)(c) a nucleotidesequence encoding the mature MIP-4 polypeptide having the amino acidsequence at positions 21–89 in FIG. 3 (SEQ ID NO:6); (3)(d) a nucleotidesequence encoding the MIP-4 polypeptide having the complete amino acidsequence encoded by the cDNA clone contained in ATCC® Deposit No. 75675;(3)(e) a nucleotide sequence encoding the mature MIP-4 polypeptidehaving the amino acid sequence encoded by the cDNA clone contained inATCC® Deposit No. 75675; and (3)(f) a nucleotide sequence complementaryto any of the nucleotide sequences in (3)-(a), (b), (c), (d), or (e)above.

MPIF-1, M-CIF and MIP-4 Polynucleotide Variants. The present inventionfurther relates to variants of the hereinabove described polynucleotideswhich encode for fragments, analogs and derivatives of the polypeptidehaving the deduced amino acid sequence of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 (SEQ IDNOS:2, 4 and 6) or the polypeptides encoded by the cDNA of the depositedclone(s). The variants of the polynucleotides can be a naturallyoccurring allelic variant of the polynucleotides or a non-naturallyoccurring variant of the polynucleotides.

Homologous MPIF-1, M-CIF and MIP-4 Polynucleotides. Further embodimentsof the invention include isolated nucleic acid molecules that comprise apolynucleotide having a nucleotide sequence at least 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%or 99% identical, to any of the nucleotide sequences in (1)-, (2)- or(3)-(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), or (f), above, or a polynucleotide whichhybridizes under stringent hybridization conditions to a polynucleotidein (1)-, (2)- or (3)-(a), (b), (c), (d), (e), or (f), above. Thesepolynucleotides which hybridize do not hybridize under stringenthybridization conditions to a polynucleotide having a nucleotidesequence consisting of only A residues or of only T residues.

Nucleic Acid Probes. In accordance with yet another aspect of thepresent invention, there are also provided nucleic acid probescomprising nucleic acid molecules of sufficient length to specificallyhybridize to the MPIF-1, M-CIF and/or MIP-4 nucleic acid sequences.

Recombinant Vectors, Host Cells and Expression. The present inventionalso relates to recombinant vectors, which include the isolated nucleicacid molecules of the present invention, and to host cells containingthe recombinant vectors, as well as to methods of making such vectorsand host cells and for using them for production of MPIF-1, M-CIF orMIP-4 polypeptides or peptides by recombinant techniques.

MPIF-1 Polypeptides. The invention further provides an isolated MPIF-1polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the groupconsisting of: (I)(a) the amino acid sequence of the MPIF-1 polypeptidehaving the complete 120 amino acid sequence, including the leadersequence shown in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4); (I)(b) the amino acid sequenceof the MPIF-1 polypeptide having the complete 120 amino acid sequence,including the leader sequence shown in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4) but minusthe N-terminal methionine residue; (I)(c) the amino acid sequence of themature MPIF-1 polypeptide (without the leader) having the amino acidsequence at positions 22–120 in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4); (I)(d) the aminoacid sequence of the MPIF-1 polypeptide having the complete amino acidsequence, including the leader, encoded by the cDNA clone contained inATCC® Deposit No. 75676; and (I)(e) the amino acid sequence of themature MPIF-1 polypeptide having the amino acid sequence encoded by thecDNA clone contained in ATCC® Deposit No. 75676.

M-CIF Polypeptides. The invention further provides an isolated M-CIFpolypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the groupconsisting of: (II)(a) the amino acid sequence of the M-CIF polypeptidehaving the complete 93 amino acid sequence, including the leadersequence shown in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2); (II)(b) the amino acid sequenceof the M-CIF polypeptide having the complete 93 amino acid sequence,including the leader sequence shown in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2) but minusthe N-terminal methionine residue; (II)(c) the amino acid sequence ofthe mature M-CIF polypeptide (without the leader) having the amino acidsequence at positions 20–93 in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2); (II)(d) the aminoacid sequence of the M-CIF polypeptide having the complete amino acidsequence, including the leader, encoded by the cDNA clone contained inATCC® Deposit No. 75572; and (II)(e) the amino acid sequence of themature M-CIF polypeptide having the amino acid sequence encoded by thecDNA clone contained in ATCC® Deposit No. 75572.

MIP-4 Polypeptides. The invention further provides an isolated MIP-4polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the groupconsisting of: (III)(a) the amino acid sequence of the MIP-4 polypeptidehaving the complete 89 amino acid sequence, including the leadersequence shown in FIG. 3 (SEQ ID NO:6); (III)(b) the amino acid sequenceof the MIP-4 polypeptide having the complete 89 amino acid sequence,including the leader sequence shown in FIG. 3 (SEQ ID NO:6) but minusthe N-terminal methionine residue; (III)(c) the amino acid sequence ofthe mature MIP-4 polypeptide (without the leader) having the amino acidsequence at positions 21–89 in FIG. 3 (SEQ ID NO:6); (III)(d) the aminoacid sequence of the MIP-4 polypeptide having the complete amino acidsequence, including the leader, encoded by the cDNA clone contained inATCC® Deposit No. 75675; and (III)(e) the amino acid sequence of themature MIP-4 polypeptide having the amino acid sequence encoded by thecDNA clone contained in ATCC® Deposit No. 75675.

Homologous MPIF-1, M-CIF and MIP-4 Polypeptides. Polypeptides of thepresent invention also include homologous polypeptides having an aminoacid sequence with at least 95% identity to those described in (I)-,(II)- and (III)(a), (b), (c), (d), or (e) above, as well as polypeptideshaving an amino acid sequence at least 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% or 99%identical to those above.

MPIF-1, M-CIF and MIP-4 Epitope Bearing Polypeptides and EncodingPolynucleotides. An additional embodiment of this aspect of theinvention relates to a peptide or polypeptide which has the amino acidsequence of an epitope-bearing portion of an MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4polypeptide having an amino acid sequence described in (I)-, (II)-, or(III)-(a), (b), (c), (d), or (e), above. Peptides or polypeptides havingthe amino acid sequence of an epitope-bearing portion of an MPIF-1,M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide of the invention include portions of suchpolypeptides with at least six or seven, preferably at least nine, andmore preferably at least about 30 amino acids to about 50 amino acids,although epitope-bearing polypeptides of any length up to and includingthe entire amino acid sequence of a polypeptide of the inventiondescribed above also are included in the invention.

An additional nucleic acid embodiment of the invention relates to anisolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a polynucleotide which encodesthe amino acid sequence of an epitope-bearing portion of an MPIF-1,M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide having an amino acid sequence in (I)-, (II)-or (III)-(a), (b), (c), (d), or (e), above.

MPIF-1, M-CIF and MIP-4 Antibodies. In accordance with yet a furtheraspect of the present invention, there is provided an antibody againstsuch polypeptides. In another embodiment, the invention provides anisolated antibody that binds specifically to an MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4polypeptide having an amino acid sequence described in (I)-, (II)-,and/or (III)-(a), (b), (c), (d), or (e), above.

The invention further provides methods for isolating antibodies thatbind specifically to an MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide having anamino acid sequence as described herein. Such antibodies are usefuldiagnostically or therapeutically as described below.

MPIF-1, M-CIF and MIP-4 Antagonists and Methods. In accordance with yetanother aspect of the present invention, there are provided antagonistsor inhibitors of such polypeptides, which can be used to inhibit theaction of such polypeptides, for example, in the treatment ofarteriosclerosis, autoimmune and chronic inflammatory and infectivediseases, histamine-mediated allergic reactions, hyper-eosinophilicsyndrome, silicosis, sarcoidosis, inflammatory diseases of the lung,inhibition of IL-1 and TNF, aplastic anaemia, and myelodysplasticsyndrome. Alternatively, such polypeptides can be used to inhibitproduction of IL-1 and TNF-α, to treat aplastic anemia, myelodysplasticsyndrome, asthma and arthritis.

Diagnostic Assays. In accordance with still another aspect of thepresent invention, there are provided diagnostic assays for detectingdiseases related to the underexpression and overexpression of thepolypeptides and for detecting mutations in the nucleic acid sequencesencoding such polypeptides.

In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there isprovided a process for utilizing such polypeptides, or polynucleotidesencoding such polypeptides, as research reagents for in vitro purposesrelated to scientific research, synthesis of DNA and manufacture of DNAvectors, for the purpose of developing therapeutics and diagnostics forthe treatment of human disease.

The present invention also provides a screening method for identifyingcompounds capable of enhancing or inhibiting a cellular response inducedby an MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide, which involves contactingcells which express the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide with thecandidate compound, assaying a cellular response, and comparing thecellular response to a standard cellular response, the standard beingassayed when contact is made in absence of the candidate compound;whereby, an increased cellular response over the standard indicates thatthe compound is an agonist and a decreased cellular response over thestandard indicates that the compound is an antagonist.

For a number of disorders, it is believed that significantly higher orlower levels of MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 gene expression can be detectedin certain tissues or bodily fluids (e.g., serum, plasma, urine,synovial fluid or spinal fluid) taken from an individual having such adisorder, relative to a “standard” MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 geneexpression level, i.e., the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 expression level intissue or bodily fluids from an individual not having the disorder.Thus, the invention provides a diagnostic method useful during diagnosisof a disorder, which involves: (a) assaying MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 geneexpression level in cells or body fluid of an individual; (b) comparingthe MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 gene expression level with a standard MPIF-1,M-CIF or MIP-4 gene expression level, whereby an increase or decrease inthe assayed MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 gene expression level compared to thestandard expression level is indicative of a disorder. Such disordersinclude leukemia, chronic inflammation, autoimmune diseases, solidtumors.

Pharmaceutical Compositions. The present invention also provides, inanother aspect, pharmaceutical compositions comprising at least one ofan MPF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4: polynucleotide, probe, vector, host cell,polypeptide, fragment, variant, derivative, epitope bearing portion,antibody, antagonist, or agonist.

Therapeutic Methods. In accordance with yet a further aspect of thepresent invention, there is provided a process for utilizing suchpolypeptides, or polynucleotides encoding such polypeptides fortherapeutic purposes, for example, to protect bone marrow stem cellsfrom chemotherapeutic agents during chemotherapy, to remove leukemiccells, to stimulate an immune response, to regulate hematopoiesis andlymphocyte trafficking, treatment of psoriasis, solid tumors, to enhancehost defenses against resistant and acute and chronic infection, and tostimulate wound healing.

An additional aspect of the invention is related to a method fortreating an individual in need of an increased level of MPIF-1, M-CIF orMIP-4 activity in the body comprising administering to such anindividual a composition comprising a therapeutically effective amountof an isolated MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide of the invention or anagonist thereof, respectively.

A still further aspect of the invention is related to a method fortreating an individual in need of a decreased level of MPIF-1, M-CIF orMIP-4 activity in the body comprising, administering to such anindividual a composition comprising a therapeutically effective amountof an MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 antagonist. Preferred antagonists for usein the present invention are M-CIF-specific antibodies, respectively.

These and other aspects of the present invention should be apparent tothose skilled in the art from the teachings herein.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The following drawings are illustrative of embodiments of the inventionand are not meant to limit the scope of the invention as encompassed bythe claims.

FIG. 1 displays the cDNA sequence encoding MPIF-1 (SEQ ID NO:3) and thecorresponding deduced amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:4). The initial 21amino acids represents the putative leader sequence. All the signalsequences were as determined by N-terminal peptide sequencing of thebaculovirus expressed protein.

FIG. 2 displays the cDNA sequence encoding M-CIF (SEQ ID NO:1) and thecorresponding deduced amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:2). The initial 19amino acids represents a leader sequence.

FIG. 3 displays the cDNA sequence encoding MIP-4 (SEQ ID NO:5) and thecorresponding deduced amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:6). The initial 20amino acids represents a leader sequence.

FIG. 4 illustrates the amino acid homology between MPIF-1 (top) (SEQ IDNO:4) and human MIP-1α (bottom) (SEQ ID NO:55). The four cysteinescharacteristic of all chemokines are shown.

FIG. 5 displays two amino acid sequences wherein, the top sequence isthe human MIP-4 amino acid sequence (SEQ ID NO:6) and the bottomsequence is human MIP-1α (Human Tonsillar lymphocyte LD78 Beta proteinprecursor) (SEQ ID NO:55).

FIG. 6 illustrates the amino acid sequence alignment between M-CIF (top)and human MIP-1α (bottom) (SEQ ID NO:55).

FIG. 7 is a photograph of a gel in which M-CIF has been electrophoresedafter the expression of HA-tagged M-CIF in COS cells.

FIG. 8 is a photograph of a SDS-PAGE gel after expression andpurification of M-CIF in a baculovirus expression system.

FIG. 9A depicts part of a three-step purification of MPIF-1 in abaculovirus expression system, while FIG. 9B is a photograph of anSDS-PAGE gel of such purified MPIF-1.

FIG. 10. The chemoattractant activity of MPIF-1 was determined withchemotaxis assays using a 48-well microchamber device (Neuro Probe,Inc.). The experimental procedure was as described in the manufacturersmanual. For each concentration of MPIF-1 tested, migration in 5high-power fields was examined. The results presented represent theaverage values obtained from two independent experiments. Thechemoattractant activity on THP-1 (A) cells and human PBMCs (B) isshown.

FIG. 11. Change in intracellular calcium concentration in response toMPIF-1 was determined using a Hitachi F-2000 fluorescencespectrophotometer. Bacterial expressed MPIF-1 was added to Indo-1 loadedTHP-1 cells to a final concentration of 50 nM and the intracellularlevel of calcium concentration was monitored.

FIG. 12. A low density population of mouse bone marrow cells was plated(1,500 cells/dish) in agar containing-medium with or without theindicated chemokines (100 ng/ml), but in the presence of IL-3 (5 ng/ml),SCF (100 ng/ml), IL-1α (10 ng/ml), and M-CSF (5 ng/ml). The data shownrepresents the average obtained from two independent experiments (eachperformed in duplicate). Colonies were counted 14 days after plating.The number of colonies generated in the presence of chemokines isexpressed as a mean percentage of those produced in the absence of anyadded chemokines.

FIG. 13 illustrates the effect of MPIF-1 and M-CIF on mouse bone marrowcolony formation by HPP-CFC (A) and LPP-CFC (B).

FIG. 14 illustrates the effect of baculovirus-expressed M-CIF and MPIF-1on M-CFS and SCF-stimulated colony formation of freshly isolated bonemarrow cells.

FIG. 15 illustrates the effect of MPIF-1 and M-CIF on IL3 andSCF-stimulated proliferation and differentiation of the lin⁻ populationof bone marrow cells.

FIG. 16A-B. FIGS. 16A–B show the effect of MPIF-1 and M-CIF on thegeneration of Gr.1 and Mac-1 (surface markers) positive population ofcells from lineage depleted population of bone marrow cells. lin⁻ cellswere incubated in growth medium supplemented with IL-3 (5 ng/ml) and SCF(100 ng/ml) alone (a) with MPIF-1 (50 ng/ml) (b) or M-CIF (50 ng/ml)(c). Cells were then stained with Monoclonal antibodies against myeloiddifferentiation Gr.1, Mac-1, Sca-1, and CD45R surface antigens andanalyzed by FACScan. Data is presented as percentage of positive cellsin both large (FIG. 16A) and small (FIG. 16B) cell populations.

FIG. 17 illustrates that the presence of MPIF-1 protein inhibits bonemarrow cell colony formation in response to IL3, M-CSF and GM-CSF.

FIG. 18. Dose response of MPIF-1 inhibits bone marrow cell colonyformation. Cells were isolated and treated as in FIG. 19. The treatedcells were plated at a density of 1,000 cells/dish in agar-based colonyformation assays in the presence of IL-3, GM-CSF or M-CSF (5 ng/ml) withor without MPIF-1 at 1, 10, 50 and 100 ng/ml. The data is presented ascolony formation as a percentage of the number of colonies formed withthe specific factor alone. The data is depicted as the average ofduplicate dishes with error bars indicating the standard deviation.

FIG. 19. Expression of RNA encoding MPIF-1 in human monocytes. Total RNAfrom fresh elutriated monocytes was isolated and treated with 100 U/mlhu rIFN-g, 100 ng/ml LPS, or both. RNA (8 μg) from each treatment wasseparated electrophoretically on a 1.2% agarose gel and transferred to anylon membrane. MPIF-1 mRNA was quantified by probing with ³²P-labeledcDNA and the bands on the resulting autoradiograph were quantifieddensitometrically.

FIG. 20A-B. FIG. 20A shows an analysis of the MPIF-1 amino acid sequence(SEQ ID NO:4). Alpha, beta, turn and coil regions; hydrophilicity andhydrophobicity; amphipathic regions; flexible regions; antigenic indexand surface probability are shown. In the “Antigenic Index—Jameson-Wolf”graph, amino acid residues 21–30, 31–44, 49–55, 59–67, 72–83, 86–103 and110–120 in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4), or any range or value therein, in FIG.1 (SEQ ID NO:4) correspond to the shown highly antigenic regions of theMPIF-1 protein. FIG. 20B shows an analysis of the M-CIF amino acidsequence (SEQ ID NO:2). Alpha, beta, turn and coil regions;hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity; amphipathic regions; flexibleregions; antigenic index and surface probability are shown. In the“Antigenic Index—Jameson-Wolf” graph, amino acid residues 20–36, 42–52,52–64, 67–75, 75–84 and/or 86–93 in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2), or any rangeor value therein, in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2) correspond to the shown highlyantigenic regions of the M-CIF protein.

FIG. 21A-B. FIG. 21A shows the myeloprotective effect of MPIF-1 on the5-Fu-induced killing of LPP-CFC cells. FIG. 21B shows themyeloprotective effect of MPIF-1 on the Ara-C induced killing of LPP-CFCcells.

FIG. 22 shows the effect of MPIF-1 pre-treatment of mice on the5-Fu-induced reduction in the circulating WBC counts.

FIG. 23 shows the experimental design involving three groups of mice (6animals per group) that were treated as follows: Group-1, injected withsaline on days 1, 2, and 3; Group-2, injected with 5-Fu on days 0 and 3;and Group-3, injected with 5-Fu on days 0 and 3 and MPIF-1 on days 1, 2,and 3. Bone marrow was harvested on days 6 and 9 to determine HPP-CFCand LPP-CFC frequencies using a clonogenic assay.

FIG. 24 shows the effect of administration of MPIF-1 prior to the seconddose of 5-Fu on the HPP-CFC and LPP-CFC frequencies in the bone marrow.

FIG. 25 shows MPIF-1 variants. The first 80 out of 120 amino acidssequence of MPIF-1 (FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4)) is shown using a single aminoacid letter code of which the first 21 residues show characteristics ofa signal sequence that is cleaved to give rise to a mature, wild typeprotein. Mutants-1 and -6 contain methionine as the N-terminal residuewhich is not present in the wild type. Also, the first four amino acids(HAAG) of Mutant-9 (residues 1 to 4 of SEQ ID NO:9) are not present inthe wild type MPIF-1 protein. Mutants-1, -6 and, -9 correspond to SEQ IDNOS:7, 8 and 9, respectively. Mutant-2 corresponds to amino acidresidues 46–120 in SEQ ID NO:4. Mutant-3 corresponds to amino acidresidues 45–120 in SEQ ID NO:4). Mutant-4 corresponds to amino acidresidues 48–120 in SEQ ID NO:4. Mutant-5 corresponds to amino acidresidues 49–120 in SEQ ID NO:4. Mutant-7 corresponds to amino acidresidues 39–120 in SEQ ID NO:4. Mutant-8 corresponds to amino acidresidues 44–120 in SEQ ID NO:4.

FIG. 26A-B. FIG. 26A shows the nucleotide sequence of a human MPIF-1splice variant cDNA (SEQ ID NO:10). This cDNA sequence is shown alongwith the open reading frame encoding for a protein of 137 amino acids(SEQ ID NO:11) using a single letter amino acid code. The N-terminal 21amino acids which are underlined represent the putative leader sequence.The insertion of 18 amino acids sequence not represented in the MPIF-1sequence but unique to the splice variant are high-lighted in italics.FIG. 26B shows the comparison of the amino acid sequence of the MPIF-1variant (SEQ ID NO:11) with that of the wild type MPIF-1 molecule (SEQID NO:4).

FIG. 27 shows the concentrations of MPIF-1 mutant proteins required for50% of maximal calcium mobilization response induced by MIP-1α in humanmonocytes.

FIG. 28 shows the changes in the intracellular free calciumconcentration was measured in human monocytes in response to theindicated proteins at 100 ng/ml as described in the legend to FIG. 27.

FIG. 29 shows the ability of MPIF-1 mutants to desensitize MIP-1αstimulated calcium mobilization in human monocytes (summary).

FIG. 30 shows the chemotactic responses of human peripheral bloodmononuclear cells (PBMC) to MPIF-1 mutants. Numbers within theparenthesis reflect fold stimulation of chemotaxis above backgroundobserved at the indicate concentration range.

FIG. 31 shows the effect of MPIF-1 variants on the growth anddifferentiation of Low Proliferative Potential Colony-forming Cells(LPP-CFC) in vitro.

FIG. 32 shows protection against LPS-induced septic shock in mice bypretreatment with recombinant human M-CIF. Groups of Balb/c mice (n=7)were injected i.p. with 25 mg/kg of LPS on day 0. M-CIF was given i.p.daily at 3 mg/kg of body weight of for 3 consecutive days from one daybefore, on the same day, and one day after LPS challenge (−1, 0, +1).Mice receiving buffer only served as disease control. The kinetic oflethality was followed for 56 hours after LPS challenge.

FIG. 33 shows the protective effect of M-CIF on lethal shock isdependent on LPS dose. Groups of Balb/c mice (n=9) were injected i.p.with 25 mg/kg of LPS on day 0 for different degrees of sepsis induction.10 mg/kg of M-CIF was given i.p. daily for 3 consecutive day to eachgroup of LPS-treated mice. The kinetic of lethality was followed for 56hours after LPS challenge.

FIG. 34 shows protection against LPS-induced lethal shock in mice isdependent on M-CIF dose. Groups of Balb/c mice (n=8) were challengedi.p. with 25 mg/kg of LPS on day 0 and treated daily with differentdoses (1, 3 or 10 mg/kg) of M-CIF for 3 consecutive days (−1, 0, +1).Mice receiving buffer only served as a disease control. The kinetic oflethality was followed for 120 hours after LPS challenge.

FIG. 35A-B shows the protective effect of M-CIF on LPS-induced shock inBalb/c SCID mice. Groups of Balb/c SCID mice (n=5–7) were challengedi.p. with 20, 30 or 40 mg/kg of LPS on day 0; and M-CIF treatment wasgiven to each group of LPS-injected mice at 3 mg/kg daily dosing for 3consecutive days (−1, 0, +1). The kinetic of lethality was followed for120 hours after LPS challenge. The result of M-CIF pretreatment on 20mg/kg of LPS-injected mice is the same as that of LPS-injection alonewith no death occurring.

FIG. 36 shows the protective effect of M-CIF protein from E. coli andCHO expression vectors on sepsis. Groups of Balb/c mice (n=8) wereinjected with 25 mg/kg of LPS on day 0; and treated with two differentbatches (E1 and C1) of M-CIF at 1 mg/kg for 3 consecutive days (−1, 0,+1). Mice receiving buffer only served as a disease control. The kineticof lethality was followed for 120 hours after LPS challenge.

FIG. 37. Efficacy of M-CIF in reducing paw edema in adjuvant-inducedarthritis model. Groups of Lewis rats (n=5) were injected intradermallyat the base of the tail with 100 μl/rat of Freund's complete adjuvantcontaining 5 mg/ml Mycobacterium butyricum on day 0. Preventativetreatment started on day 0 and continued daily (M-CIF, 5 times/week) for16 days with i.p. M-CIF at 1 or 3 mg/kg in buffer (40 mM sodium acetate;500 mM NaCl) or with p.o. indomethacin at 1 mg/kg in methyl cellulose,as drug control, daily dose (5 times/week) for 16 days. Rats receivingbuffer or methyl cellulose only served as disease control. Swelling ofboth hind paws were monitored on the days as indicated using aplethysmometer chamber, and percentage of efficacy of testing drugs onpaw volume were calculated.

FIG. 38. Protective effect of M-CIF on total joint inflammation. At theend of the same experiment as FIG. 40, which was 40 days after adjuvantimmunization, both hind limbs from two rats per group were collected forhistopathological analysis. The results are expressed as mean of totalhistological score.

FIG. 39. Protective effect of M-CIF on chronic features of arthritis. Asimilar experiment as FIG. 40 with prolonged daily treatment of M-CIF orindomethacin to 40 days post adjuvant immunization, was conducted tofurther analyze chronic histopathological changes including hypertrophy,fibrosis, blood vessel dilation and lymphoid aggregates around bloodvessels. The results were expressed as mean (n=5) of the total featuresmentioned above. An unpaired T test was employed for obtaining assessingstatistical significance.

FIG. 40. Protective effect of M-CIF on bone and cartilage erosion. Inthe same experiment as FIG. 39, pannus formation, bone and cartilagedestruction were evaluated. The results were expressed as mean (n=5) ofthe total features mentioned above. An unpaired T test was employed forassessing statistical significance.

FIG. 41. M-CIF treatment prevents developing type 11 collagen-inducedarthritis in DBA/I mice. Female DBA/ilacJ mice were immunized i.d. atthe base of the tail with Bovine type 11 collagen emulsified in completeFreund's adjuvant. 20 days later, the mice were challenged with a s.c.injection of 60 mg/100 of LPS. Two days preceding LPS injection, 3groups of animals (n=10 per group) were i.p. treated with 3 mg/ml ofindomethacin, M-CIF, or their buffer controls respectively. Thesetreatments continued daily for 14 days. The animals were examined andtheir clinical presentation semiquantified. The % incidence is shown inthis FIG.

FIG. 42 Animals were immunized with bovine type II collagen as describedin FIG. 44. The results are expressed as the mean severity.

FIG. 43 shows the suppressive effect of M-CIF on systemic TNF-Aproduction.

Groups of female Balb/c mice were challenged with 25 mg/kg oflipopolysaccharide (LPS) from E. coli serotype 0127:B8 (Sigma) in salineon Day 0. M-CIF or buffer was administered one day before and the sameday (1 hour before) of LPS injection. Serum was collected at varioustime points after LPS administration and the TNF-A level determined. Theresults were analyzed with an unpaired T test and the data expressed asthe mean±SEM.

FIG. 44 shows the decrease in TNF-α) production from peritoneal cellsisolated from M-CIF treated mice. Mice were treated with M-CIF at 3mg/kg for two days. One hour after the second M-CIF injection, theperitoneal cells were harvested and put into culture to assay forcytokine production in the presence or absence of LPS. TNF-(X levelswere measured by ELISA.

FIG. 45 shows the increased total cell number in the peritoneal cavityof M-CIF treated mice. Mice were untreated, treated with vehicle controlor treated with M-CIF at 1 mg/kg and 3 mg/kg daily for six consecutivedays. On the seventh day, mice were sacrificed and the peritoneal cellsharvested and quantitated.

FIG. 46 shows the specific increase in CD4 positive T-lymphocytes in theperitoneal cavity of M-CIF treated mice. Mice were treated as describedin FIG. 48. Each animal is represented by a different symbol from theuntreated, vehicle treated, 1 mg/kg M-CIF, and 3 mg/kg M-CIF groups.Each group contained 10 animals each, with the cells from each animalanalyzed by cell surface staining using antibodies directed at CD4, CD5,CD8, Mac1, MHC class II, B220, IgM, Gr I and CD 14.

FIG. 47 shows an increase in total T-lymphocyte cell numbers (CD5/IgM-,CD4, and CD8) in the peritoneal cavity of M-CIF treated mice.

FIG. 48 shows a decrease in the percentage of Mac1+/MHC class II+ cellsin the peritoneal cavity of M-CIF treated mice with a correspondingincrease in the percentage of Mac1+/MHC class II cells.

FIG. 49 shows an increase in the total number of Mac1+/MHC classII-cells in the peritoneal cavity of M-CIF treated mice.

FIG. 50 shows the stem cell mobilization in normal mice in response tothe administration of MPIF-1.

FIG. 51 shows a comparison of the effect of MPIF-1 with G-CSF on therecovery of platelets following two cycles of 5-Fu treatment asdetermined by FACS Vantage method.

FIG. 52 shows a comparison of the effect of MPIF-1 with G-CSF on therecovery of Gra.1 and Mac.1 double positive cells in the blood followingtwo cycles of 5-Fu treatment.

FIG. 53 shows a comparison of the effect of MPIF-1 with G-CSF on therecovery of Gra.1 and Mac.1 double positive cells in the bone marrowfollowing two cycles of 5-Fu treatment as determined by FACS Vantagemethod.

FIG. 54 shows a comparison of the effect of MPIF-1 with G-CSF on therecovery of hematopoietic progenitors in the bone marrow duringfollowing two cycles of 5-Fu treatment.

FIG. 55. Time course of survival rates of MRL lpr mice (8 weeks old) in3 different groups treated i.p. daily (5 days/week) with 1 or 5 mg/kg ofM-CIF (n=8) or buffer (n=9) for 14 weeks.

FIG. 56. Time course of survival rates of MRL lpr mice (8 weeks old) in3 different groups treated i.p. once per day, 3 days/week with 1 or 5mg/kg of M-CIF (n=8) or buffer (n=9) for 14 weeks.

FIG. 57. Changes in the protein cast formation by multi-blindedhistological evaluation of both kidneys of 23 week-old MRL lpr/lpr micetreated with buffer control, rhM-CIF or methotrexate (MTX) at 1 mg/kg,daily (5 days each week) for 14 weeks since mice were 8 weeks old.Values are the mean of 4–5 mice per group±SEM.

FIG. 58. Changes in the glomerular lesions by multi-blinded histologicalevaluation of both kidneys of 23 week-old MRL lpr/lpr mice treated withbuffer control, rhM-CIF or methotrexate (MTX) at 1 mg/kg, daily (5 dayseach week) for 14 weeks since mice were 8 weeks old. Glomerular lesionsassessed by multi-blinded histological evaluation represent the sum ofbasement membrane thickening, crescent formation and scarring,hypercellularity, fibrosis and karyorrhexis. Values are the mean of 4–5mice per group±SEM.

FIG. 59. Changes of renal sclerosis by multi-blinded histologicalevaluation of both kidneys of 23 week-old MRL lpr/lpr mice treated withbuffer control, rhM-CIF or methotrexate (MTX) at 1 mg/kg, daily (5 dayseach week) for 14 weeks since mice were 8 weeks old. Values are the meanof 4–5 mice per group±SEM.

FIG. 60. Changes of macrophage infiltration by immunohistologicalevaluation of both kidneys of 23 week-old MRL lpr/lpr mice treated withbuffer control, rhM-CIF or methotrexate (MTX) at 1 mg/kg, daily (5 dayseach week) for 14 weeks since mice were 8 weeks old. Values are the meanof 4–5 mice per group±SEM.

FIG. 61. Changes of lymphocyte infiltration and perivasculitis bymulti-blinded histological evaluation of both kidneys of 23 week-old MRLlpr/lpr mice treated with buffer control, rhM-CIF or methotrexate (MTX)at 1 mg/kg, daily (5 days each week) for 14 weeks since mice were 8weeks old. Values are the mean of 4–5 mice per group±SEM.

FIG. 62 shows a schematic representation of the pHE4-5 expression vector(SEQ ID NO:56) and the subcloned MPIF-1Δ23 cDNA coding sequence. Thelocations of the kanamycin resistance marker gene, the MPIF-1Δ23 codingsequence, the oriC sequence, and the lacIq coding sequence areindicated.

FIG. 63 shows an overview of the fermentation process for the productionof MPIF-1Δ23.

FIG. 64 shows a flow diagram of the methods used to recover MPIF-1Δ23produced by the process shown in FIG. 63.

FIG. 65 shows the process for the purification of MPIF-1Δ23 produced andrecovered by the processes shown in FIGS. 63 and 64.

FIG. 66 shows the nucleotide sequence of the regulatory elements of thepHE promoter (SEQ ID NO:57). The two lac operator sequences, theShine-Delgarno sequence (S/D), and the terminal HindIII and NdeIrestriction sites (italicized) are indicated.

FIG. 67A-G show the complete nucleotide sequence of the pHE4-5 vector(SEQ ID NO:56).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present invention provides diagnostic or therapeutic compositionsand methods that utilize isolated polynucleotide molecules encodingpolypeptides, or the polypeptides themselves, as: (i) a humanmonocyte-colony inhibitory factor (M-CIF) polypeptides (previouslytermed MIP1-γ and chemokine β1 (CKβ1 or ckb-1)); (ii) human myeloidprogenitor inhibitory factor-1 (MPIF-1) polypeptides (previously termedMIP-3 and chemokine β8(CKβ8 or ckb-8)); and/or (iii) macrophageinhibitory protein-4 (MIP-4), as are vectors, host cells and recombinantor synthetic methods for producing the same.

MPIF-1, M-CIF and MIP-4 Polynucleotides

In accordance with an aspect of the present invention, there areprovided isolated nucleic acids (polynucleotides) which encode for thefull-length or mature MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide having thededuced amino acid sequence of, respectively, FIG. 1, 2 or 3 (SEQ IDNOS:4, 2, and 6) and for the mature MPIF-1 polypeptide encoded by thecDNA of the clone(s) deposited as ATCC® Deposit No. 75676 on Feb. 9,1994, and for the mature MIP-4 polypeptide encoded by the cDNA of theclone deposited as ATCC® Deposit No. 75675 on Feb. 9, 1994 and for themature M-CIF polypeptide encoded by the cDNA of the clone deposited asATCC® No. 75572, deposited on Oct. 13, 1993. The present address of theAmerican Type Culture Collection (ATCC® is 10801 University Boulevard,Manassas, Va. 20110-2209, USA. The deposited clones are contained in thepBluescript SK(−) plasmid (Stratagene, LaJolla, Calif.).

The deposit(s) referred to herein will be maintained under the terms ofthe Budapest Treaty on the International Recognition of the Deposit ofMicro-Organisms for Purposes of Patent Procedure. These deposits areprovided merely as convenience to those of skill in the art and are notan admission that a deposit is required under 35 U.S.C. §112. Thesequence of the polynucleotides contained in the deposited materials, aswell as the amino acid sequence of the polypeptides encoded thereby, areincorporated herein by reference and are controlling in the event of anyconflict with description of sequences herein. A license can be requiredto make, use or sell the deposited materials, and no such license ishereby granted.

Polynucleotides encoding polypeptides of the present invention arestructurally related to the pro-inflammatory supergene “intercrine”which is in the cytokine or chemokine family. Both MPIF-1 and MIP-4 areM-CIF homologues and are more homologous to MIP-1α than to MIP-1β. Thepolynucleotide encoding for MPIF-1 was derived from an aorticendothelium cDNA library and contains an open reading frame encoding apolypeptide of 120 amino acid residues, which exhibits significanthomology to a number of chemokines. The top match is to the humanmacrophage inflammatory protein 1 alpha, showing 36% identity and 66%similarity (FIG. 4).

The polynucleotide encoding MIP-4 (SEQ ID NO:5) was derived from a humanadult lung cDNA library and contains an open reading frame encoding apolypeptide of 89 amino acid residues (SEQ ID NO:6), which exhibitssignificant homology to a number of chemokines. The top match is to thehuman tonsillar lymphocyte LD78 beta protein (SEQ ID NO:55), showing 60%identity and 89% similarity (FIG. 5). Furthermore, the four cysteineresidues occurring in all chemokines in a characteristic motif areconserved in both clone(s). The fact that the first two cysteineresidues in the genes are in adjacent positions classifies them as “C-C”or β subfamily of chemokines. In the other subfamily, the “CXC” or αsubfamily, the first two cysteine residues are separated by one aminoacid.

The polynucleotide encoding from M-CIF (SEQ ID NO:1) contains and openreading frame encoding a polypeptide of 93 amino acids (SEQ ID NO:2), ofwhich the first about 19 are a leader sequence such that the maturepeptide contains about 74 amino acid residues. M-CIF exhibitssignificant homology to human macrophage inhibitory protein-α, with 48%identity and 72% similarity over a stretch of 80 amino acids. Further,the four cysteine residues comprising a characteristic motif areconserved.

The polynucleotides of the present invention can be in the form of RNAor in the form of DNA, which DNA includes cDNA, genomic DNA, andsynthetic DNA. The DNA can be double-stranded or single-stranded, and ifsingle stranded can be the coding strand or non-coding (anti-sense)strand. The coding sequence which encodes the mature polypeptides can beidentical to the coding sequence shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 (SEQ IDNOS:3, 1, and 5, respectively) or that of the deposited clone(s) or canbe a different coding sequence which coding sequence, as a result of theredundancy or degeneracy of the genetic code, encodes the same, maturepolypeptides as the DNA of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 (SEQ ID NOS:3, 1 and 5) orthe deposited cDNAs.

The polynucleotides which encode for the mature polypeptides of FIGS. 1,2 and 3 (SEQ ID NOS:4, 2, and 6) or for the mature polypeptides encodedby the deposited cDNA can include: only the coding sequence for themature polypeptide; the coding sequence for the mature polypeptides andadditional coding sequence such as a leader or secretory sequence or aproprotein sequence; the coding sequence for the mature polypeptides(and optionally additional coding sequence) and non-coding sequence,such as introns or non-coding sequence 5′ and/or 3′ of the codingsequence for the mature polypeptides.

Thus, the term “polynucleotide encoding a polypeptide” encompasses apolynucleotide which includes only coding sequence for the polypeptideas well as a polynucleotide which includes additional coding and/ornon-coding sequence.

Unless otherwise indicated, all nucleotide sequences determined bysequencing a DNA molecule herein were determined using an automated DNAsequencer (such as the Model 373 from Applied Biosystems, Inc.), and allamino acid sequences of polypeptides encoded by DNA molecules determinedherein were predicted by translation of a DNA sequence determined asabove. Therefore, as is known in the art for any DNA sequence determinedby this automated approach, any nucleotide sequence determined hereinmay contain some errors. Nucleotide sequences determined by automationare typically at least about 90% identical, more typically at leastabout 95% to at least about 99.9% identical to the actual nucleotidesequence of the sequenced DNA molecule. The actual sequence can be moreprecisely determined by other approaches including manual DNA sequencingmethods well known in the art. As is also known in the art, a singleinsertion or deletion in a determined nucleotide sequence compared tothe actual sequence will cause a frame shift in translation of thenucleotide sequence such that the predicted amino acid sequence encodedby a determined nucleotide sequence will be completely different fromthe amino acid sequence actually encoded by the sequenced DNA molecule,beginning at the point of such an insertion or deletion.

Unless otherwise indicated, each “nucleotide sequence” set forth hereinis presented as a sequence of deoxyribonucleotides (abbreviated A, G, Cand T). However, by “nucleotide sequence” of a nucleic acid molecule orpolynucleotide is intended, for a DNA molecule or polynucleotide, asequence of deoxyribonucleotides, and for an RNA molecule orpolynucleotide, the corresponding sequence of ribonucleotides (A, G, Cand U), where each thymidine deoxyribonucleotide (T) in the specifieddeoxyribonucleotide sequence is replaced by the ribonucleotide uridine(U). For instance, reference to an RNA molecule having the sequence ofSEQ ID NO:1, 3 or 5, as set forth using deoxyribonucleotideabbreviations, is intended to indicate an RNA molecule having a sequencein which each deoxyribonucleotide A, G or C of SEQ ID NO:1 has beenreplaced by the corresponding ribonucleotide A, G or C, and eachdeoxyribonucleotide T has been replaced by a ribonucleotide U.

Using the information provided herein, such as the nucleotide sequencein FIG. 1, 2, or 3, a nucleic acid molecule of the present inventionencoding an MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 (respectively) polypeptide may beobtained using standard cloning and screening procedures, such as thosefor cloning cDNAs using mRNA as starting material.

The present invention further relates to variants of the hereinabovedescribed polynucleotides which encode for fragments, analogs andderivatives of the polypeptide having the deduced amino acid sequence ofFIGS. 1, 2 and 3 (SEQ ID NOS:4, 2, and 6) or the polypeptides encoded bythe cDNA of the deposited clone(s). The variants of the polynucleotidescan be a naturally occurring allelic variant of the polynucleotides or anon-naturally occurring variant of the polynucleotides.

The present invention also includes polynucleotides encoding the samemature polypeptides as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 (SEQ ID NOS:4, 2 and 6)or the same mature polypeptides encoded by the cDNA of the depositedclone(s) as well as variants of such polynucleotides which variantsencode for a fragment, derivative or analog of the polypeptides of FIGS.1, 2 and 3 (SEQ ID NOS:4, 2 and 6) or the polypeptides encoded by thecDNA of the deposited clone(s). Such nucleotide variants includedeletion variants, substitution variants and addition or insertionvariants.

As hereinabove indicated, the polynucleotide can have a coding sequencewhich is a naturally occurring allelic variant of the coding sequenceshown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 (SEQ ID NOS:4, 2 and 6) or of the codingsequence of the deposited clone(s). As known in the art, an allelicvariant is an alternate form of a polynucleotide sequence which can havea substitution, deletion or addition of one or more nucleotides, whichdoes not substantially alter the function of the encoded polypeptide.

The present invention also includes polynucleotides, wherein the codingsequence for the mature polypeptides can be fused in the same readingframe to a polynucleotide sequence which aids in expression andsecretion of a polypeptide from a host cell, for example, a leadersequence which functions as a secretory sequence for controllingtransport of a polypeptide from the cell. The polypeptide having aleader sequence is a preprotein and can have the leader sequence cleavedby the host cell to form the mature form of the polypeptide. Thepolynucleotides can also encode for a proprotein which is the matureprotein plus additional 5′ amino acid residues. A mature protein havinga prosequence is a proprotein and is an inactive form of the protein.Once the prosequence is cleaved an active mature protein remains.

Thus, for example, the polynucleotides of the present invention canencode for a mature protein, or for a protein having a prosequence orfor a protein having both a prosequence and a presequence (leadersequence).

The polynucleotides of the present invention can also have the codingsequence fused in frame to a marker sequence which allows forpurification of the polypeptides of the present invention. The markersequence can be a hexa-histidine tag supplied by a pQE-9 vector toprovide for purification of the mature polypeptides fused to the markerin the case of a bacterial host, or, for example, the marker sequencecan be a hemagglutinin (HA) tag when a mammalian host, e.g. COS-7 cells,is used. The HA tag corresponds to an epitope derived from the influenzahemagglutinin protein (Wilson, I., et al., Cell, 37:767 (1984)).

The term “gene” means the segment of DNA involved in producing apolypeptide chain; it includes regions preceding and following thecoding region (leader and trailer) as well as intervening sequences(introns) between individual coding segments (exons).

As indicated, nucleic acid molecules of the present invention may be inthe form of RNA, such as mRNA, or in the form of DNA, including, forinstance, cDNA and genomic DNA obtained by cloning or producedsynthetically. The DNA may be double-stranded or single-stranded.Single-stranded DNA or RNA may be the coding strand, also known as thesense strand, or it may be the non-coding strand, also referred to asthe anti-sense strand.

The term “isolated” means that the material is removed from its originalenvironment (e.g., the natural environment if it is naturallyoccurring). For example, a naturally-occurring polynucleotide orpolypeptide present in a living animal is not isolated, but the samepolynucleotides or DNA or polypeptides, separated from some or all ofthe coexisting materials in the natural system, is isolated. Suchpolynucleotides could be part of a vector and/or such polynucleotides orpolypeptides could be part of a composition, and still be isolated inthat such vector or composition is not part of its natural environment.Isolated RNA molecules include in vivo or in vitro RNA transcripts ofthe DNA molecules of the present invention. Isolated nucleic acidmolecules according to the present invention further include suchmolecules produced synthetically.

Isolated nucleic acid molecules of the present invention include DNAmolecules comprising an open reading frame (ORF) for a MPIF-1, M-CIF orMIP-4 cDNA; DNA molecules comprising the coding sequence for a matureM-CIF, MPIF-1 or MIP-4 protein; and DNA molecules which comprise asequence substantially different from those described above but which,due to the degeneracy of the genetic code, still encode an MPIF-1, M-CIFor MIP-4 polypeptide. Of course, the genetic code is well known in theart. Thus, it would be routine for one skilled in the art to generatethe degenerate variants described above.

The present invention further relates to polynucleotides which hybridizeto the hereinabove-described sequences if there is at least 95% identitybetween the sequences. The present invention particularly relates topolynucleotides which hybridize under stringent conditions to thehereinabove-described polynucleotides. As herein used, the term“stringent conditions” means hybridization will occur only if there isat least 95% and preferably at least 97% identity between the sequences.The polynucleotides which hybridize to the hereinabove describedpolynucleotides in a preferred embodiment encode polypeptides whichretain substantially the same biological function or activity as themature polypeptide encoded by the cDNAs of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 (SEQ IDNO:3, 1, and 5) or the deposited cDNA(s).

Alternatively, the polynucleotide may have at least 20 bases, preferably30 bases, and more preferably at least 50 bases which hybridize to apolynucleotide of the present invention and which has an identitythereto, as hereinabove described, and which may or may not retainactivity. For example, such polynucleotides may be employed as probesfor the polynucleotide of SEQ ID NO:1, 3 and 5, for example, forrecovery of the polynucleotide or as a diagnostic probe or as a PCRprimer.

In another aspect, the invention provides an isolated nucleic acidmolecule comprising a polynucleotide which hybridizes under stringenthybridization conditions to a portion of the polynucleotide in a nucleicacid molecule of the invention described above, for instance, the cDNAclone contained in ATCC® Deposit 75572 (M-CIF); ATCC® Deposit 75676(MPIF-1); or ATCC® Deposit 75675 (MIP-4). By “stringent hybridizationconditions” is intended overnight incubation at 42° C. in a solutioncomprising: 50% formamide, 5×SSC (750 mM NaCl, 75 mM trisodium citrate),50 mM sodium phosphate (pH 7.6), 5× Denhardt's solution, 10% dextransulfate, and 20 g/ml denatured, sheared salmon sperm DNA, followed bywashing the filters in 0.1×SSC at about 65° C.

By a polynucleotide which hybridizes to a “portion” of a polynucleotideis intended a polynucleotide (either DNA or RNA) hybridizing to at leastabout 15 nucleotides (nt), and more preferably at least about 20 nt,still more preferably at least about 30 nt, and even more preferablyabout 30–70 nt of the reference polynucleotide. These are useful asdiagnostic probes and primers as discussed above and in more detailbelow.

Of course, polynucleotides hybridizing to a larger portion of thereference polynucleotide (e.g. the deposited cDNA clone), for instance,a portion 50–750 nt in length, or even to the entire length of thereference polynucleotide, are also useful as probes according to thepresent invention, as are polynucleotides corresponding to most, if notall, of the nucleotide sequence of the deposited cDNA or the nucleotidesequence as shown in SEQ ID NO:1 (M-CIF); SEQ ID NO:3 (MPIF-1); or SEQID NO:5 (MIP-4). By a portion of a polynucleotide of “at least 20 nt inlength,” for example, is intended 20 or more contiguous nucleotides fromthe nucleotide sequence of the reference polynucleotide. As indicated,such portions are useful diagnostically either as a probe according toconventional DNA hybridization techniques or as primers foramplification of a target sequence by the polymerase chain reaction(PCR), as described, for instance, in Molecular Cloning, A LaboratoryManual, 2nd. edition, Sambrook, J., Fritsch, E. F. and Maniatis, T.,eds., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y.(1989), the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

Since a MPIF-1, M-CIF and MIP-4 cDNA clones have been deposited and itsdetermined nucleotide sequence provided, generating polynucleotideswhich hybridize to a portion of the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 cDNAmolecules would be routine to the skilled artisan. For example,restriction endonuclease cleavage or shearing by sonication of a MPIF-1,M-CIF or MIP-4 cDNA clone could easily be used to generate DNA portionsof various sizes which are polynucleotides that hybridize, respectively,to a portion of the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 cDNA molecules.

Alternatively, the hybridizing polynucleotides of the present inventioncould be generated synthetically according to known techniques. Ofcourse, a polynucleotide which hybridizes only to a poly A sequence(such as the 3′ terminal poly(A) tract of a cDNA, or to a complementarystretch of T (or U) residues, would not be included in a polynucleotideof the invention used to hybridize to a portion of a nucleic acid of theinvention, since such a polynucleotide would hybridize to any nucleicacid molecule containing a poly (A) stretch or the complement thereof(e.g. practically any double-stranded cDNA clone).

As indicated, nucleic acid molecules of the present invention whichencode an MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide may include, but are notlimited to those encoding the amino acid sequence of the maturepolypeptide, by itself; the coding sequence for the mature polypeptideand additional sequences, such as those encoding the leader or secretorysequence, such as a pre-, or pro- or prepro-protein sequence; the codingsequence of the mature polypeptide, with or without the aforementionedadditional coding sequences, together with additional, non-codingsequences, including for example, but not limited to introns andnon-coding 5′ and 3′ sequences, such as the transcribed, non-translatedsequences that play a role in transcription, mRNA processing, includingsplicing and polyadenylation signals, for example—ribosome binding andstability of mRNA; an additional coding sequence which codes foradditional amino acids, such as those which provide additionalfunctionalities. Thus, the sequence encoding the polypeptide may befused to a marker sequence, such as a sequence encoding a peptide whichfacilitates purification of the fused polypeptide. In certain preferredembodiments of this aspect of the invention, the marker amino acidsequence is a hexa-histidine peptide, such as the tag provided in a pQEvector (Qiagen, Inc.), among others, many of which are commerciallyavailable. As described in Gentz et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA86:821–824 (1989), for instance, hexa-histidine provides for convenientpurification of the fusion protein. The “HA” tag is another peptideuseful for purification which corresponds to an epitope derived from theinfluenza hemagglutinin protein, which has been described by Wilson etal., Cell 37: 767 (1984). As discussed below, other such fusion proteinsinclude at least one of an MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide orfragment fused to Fc at the N- or C-terminus.

The present invention further relates to variants of the nucleic acidmolecules of the present invention, which encode portions, analogs orderivatives of an MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide. Variants may occurnaturally, such as a natural allelic variant. By an “allelic variant” isintended one of several alternate forms of a gene occupying a givenlocus on a chromosome of an organism. Genes V, Lewin, B., ed., OxfordUniversity Press, New York (1994). Non-naturally occurring variants maybe produced using art-known mutagenesis techniques.

Such variants include those produced by nucleotide substitutions,deletions or additions. The substitutions, deletions or additions mayinvolve one or more nucleotides. The variants may be altered in codingregions, non-coding regions, or both. Alterations in the coding regionsmay produce conservative or non-conservative amino acid substitutions,deletions or additions. Especially preferred among these are silentsubstitutions, additions and deletions, which do not alter theproperties and activities of an MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide orportions thereof. Also especially preferred in this regard areconservative substitutions. Most highly preferred are nucleic acidmolecules encoding the mature protein or the mature amino acid sequenceencoded by the deposited cDNA clone, as described herein.

MPIF-1, M-CIF and MIP-4 Homolog Polynucleotides. The present inventionis further directed to polynucleotides having at least 95% identity to apolynucleotide which encodes the polypeptide of SEQ ID NO:2, 4 and 6 aswell as fragments thereof, which fragments have at least 30 bases andpreferably at least 50 bases and to polypeptides encoded by suchpolynucleotides.

Further embodiments of the invention include isolated nucleic acidmolecules comprising a polynucleotide having a nucleotide sequence atleast 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% or 99% identical to (a) a nucleotide sequenceencoding an MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide or fragment, having anamino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:2, or SEQ ID NO:6,respectively, including the predicted leader sequence; (b) a nucleotidesequence encoding an MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide or fragment,having an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:2, or SEQ IDNO:6, respectively, including the predicted leader sequence, but minusthe N-terminal methionine residue; (c) a nucleotide sequence encodingthe mature MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide (full-length polypeptidewith the leader removed); (d) a nucleotide sequence encoding thefull-length polypeptide having the complete amino acid sequenceincluding the leader encoded by the deposited cDNA clone; (e) anucleotide sequence encoding the mature polypeptide having the aminoacid sequence encoded by the deposited cDNA clone; or (f a nucleotidesequence complementary to any of the nucleotide sequences in (a), (b),(c), (d), or (e).

By a polynucleotide having a nucleotide sequence at least, for example,95% “identical” to a reference nucleotide sequence encoding an MPIF-1,M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide is intended that the nucleotide sequence ofthe polynucleotide is identical to the reference sequence except thatthe polynucleotide sequence may include up to five point mutations pereach 100 nucleotides of the reference nucleotide sequence encoding thepolypeptide. In other words, to obtain a polynucleotide having anucleotide sequence at least 95% identical to a reference nucleotidesequence, up to 5% of the nucleotides in the reference sequence may bedeleted or substituted with another nucleotide, or a number ofnucleotides up to 5% of the total nucleotides in the reference sequencemay be inserted into the reference sequence. These mutations of thereference sequence may occur at the 5′ or 3′ terminal positions of thereference nucleotide sequence or anywhere between those terminalpositions, interspersed either individually among nucleotides in thereference sequence or in one or more contiguous groups within thereference sequence.

As a practical matter, whether any particular nucleic acid molecule isat least 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% or 99% identical to, for instance, thenucleotide sequence shown in FIG. 1, 3 or 5, or to the nucleotidessequence of the deposited cDNA clone can be determined conventionallyusing known computer programs such as the Bestfit program (WisconsinSequence Analysis Package, Version 8 for Unix, Genetics Computer Group,University Research Park, 575 Science Drive, Madison, Wis. 53711.Bestfit uses the local homology algorithm of Smith and Waterman,Advances in Applied Mathematics 2: 482–489 (1981), to find the bestsegment of homology between two sequences. When using Bestfit or anyother sequence alignment program to determine whether a particularsequence is, for instance, 95% identical to a reference sequenceaccording to the present invention, the parameters are set, of course,such that the percentage of identity is calculated over the full lengthof the reference nucleotide sequence and that gaps in homology of up to5% of the total number of nucleotides in the reference sequence areallowed.

As one of ordinary skill would appreciate, due to the possibilities ofsequencing errors discussed above, as well as the variability ofcleavage sites for leaders in different known proteins, the mature M-CIFpolypeptide encoded by the deposited cDNA comprises about 74 aminoacids, but may be anywhere in the range of 69–93 amino acids; and theactual leader sequence of this protein is about 19 amino acids, but maybe anywhere in the range of about 15 to about 24 amino acids.

As one of ordinary skill would appreciate, due to the possibilities ofsequencing errors discussed above, as well as the variability ofcleavage sites for leaders in different known proteins, the matureMPIF-1 polypeptide encoded by the deposited cDNA comprises about 99amino acids, but may be anywhere in the range of 75–120 amino acids; andthe actual leader sequence of this protein is about 21 amino acids, butmay be anywhere in the range of about 15 to about 35 amino acids.

As one of ordinary skill would appreciate, due to the possibilities ofsequencing errors discussed above, as well as the variability ofcleavage sites for leaders in different known proteins, the mature MIP-4polypeptide encoded by the deposited cDNA comprises about 69 aminoacids, but may be anywhere in the range of 60–89 amino acids; and theactual leader sequence of this protein is about 20 amino acids, but maybe anywhere in the range of about 15 to about 30 amino acids.

Nucleic Acid Probes. Such isolated molecules, particularly DNAmolecules, are useful as probes for gene mapping, by in situhybridization with chromosomes, and for detecting expression of aMPIF-1, M-CIF and/or MIP-4 gene in human tissue, for instance, byNorthern blot analysis. The present invention is further directed tofragments of the isolated nucleic acid molecules described herein. By afragment of an isolated nucleic acid molecule having the nucleotidesequence of the deposited MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 cDNAs, or a nucleotidesequence shown in any or all of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 (SEQ ID NOS:3, 1 and5), respectively, is intended fragments at least about 15 nt, and morepreferably at least about 20 nt, still more preferably at least about 30nt, and even more preferably, at least about 40 nt in length which areuseful as diagnostic probes and primers as discussed herein. Of course,larger fragments 50–500 nt in length are also useful according to thepresent invention as are fragments corresponding to most, if not all, ofa nucleotide sequence of the deposited MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 cDNAs, oras shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 (SEQ ID NOS:3, 1 and 5). By a fragment atleast 20 nt in length, for example, is intended fragments which include20 or more contiguous bases from the nucleotide sequence of thedeposited cDNA or the nucleotide sequence as shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3(SEQ ID NOS:3, 1 and 5). Since the gene has been deposited and thenucleotide sequences shown in FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 (SEQ ID NOS:3, 1 and 5)are provided, generating such DNA fragments would be routine to theskilled artisan. For example, restriction endonuclease cleavage orshearing by sonication could easily be used to generate fragments ofvarious sizes. Alternatively, such fragments could be generatedsynthetically.

Fragments of the full length gene of the present invention may be usedas a hybridization. probe for a cDNA library to isolate the full lengthcDNA and to isolate other cDNAs which have a high sequence similarity tothe gene or similar biological activity. Probes of this type preferablyhave at least 30 bases and may contain, for example, 50 or more bases.The probe may also be used to identify a cDNA clone corresponding to afull length transcript and a genomic clone or clones that contain thecomplete gene including regulatory and promoter regions, exons, andintrons. An example of a screen comprises isolating the coding region ofthe gene by using the known DNA sequence to synthesize anoligonucleotide probe. Labeled oligonucleotides having a sequencecomplementary to that of the gene of the present invention are used toscreen a library of human cDNA, genomic DNA or mRNA to determine whichmembers of the library the probe hybridizes to.

Vectors, Host Cells, and Protein Expression. The present invention alsorelates to vectors containing the isolated nucleic acid molecules of thepresent invention, genetically engineered host cells containing therecombinant vectors, and the production of MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4polypeptides or fragments thereof by recombinant techniques. The presentinvention further relates to novel expression vectors useful for theproduction of proteins in bacterial systems. These novel vectors areexemplified by the pHE4 series of vectors and, in particular, the pHE4-5vector (FIGS. 62 and 67A–G).

The polynucleotides encoding the proteins of the present invention maybe joined to a vector containing a selectable marker for propagation ina host. As discussed in detail below, generally, a plasmid vector isintroduced into a host cell in a precipitate, such as a calciumphosphate precipitate, or in a complex with a charged lipid. If thevector is a virus, it may be packaged in vitro using an appropriatepackaging cell line and then transduced into host cells.

Preferred for use in the practice of the present invention are vectorscomprising cis-acting control regions operatively linked to thepolynucleotide of interest. Cis-acting control regions include operatorand enhancer sequences. As used herein, the term “operator” refers to anucleotide sequence, usually composed of DNA, which controls thetranscription of an adjacent nucleotide sequence. Operator sequences aregenerally derived from bacterial chromosomes.

Transcription of the nucleotide sequences encoding the polypeptides ofthe present invention by higher eukaryotes may be increased by insertingan enhancer sequence into the vector. Enhancers are cis-acting elementsusually about from 10 to 300 bp that act to increase transcriptionalactivity of a promoter in a given host cell-type. Examples of enhancersinclude the SV40 enhancer, which is located on the late side of thereplication origin at bp 100 to 270, the cytomegalovirus early promoterenhancer, the polyoma enhancer on the late side of the replicationorigin, and adenovirus enhancers.

Appropriate trans-acting factors may be supplied by the host, suppliedby a complementing vector, or supplied by the vector itself uponintroduction into the host.

In certain preferred embodiments in this regard, the vectors provide forspecific expression, which may be inducible and/or cell type-specific.Particularly preferred among such vectors are those inducible byenvironmental factors that are easy to manipulate, such as temperatureand nutrient additives. Also preferred for the expression of MPIF-1 isthe pHE4-5 vector described in Example 30.

Additional expression vectors useful in the present invention includechromosomal-, episomal- and virus-derived vectors, e.g., vectors derivedfrom bacterial plasmids, bacteriophage, yeast episomes, yeastchromosomal elements, viruses such as baculoviruses, papova viruses,vaccinia viruses, adenoviruses, fowl pox viruses, pseudorabies virusesand retroviruses, and vectors derived from combinations thereof, such ascosmids and phagemids.

The appropriate nucleic acid sequence can be inserted into the vector bya variety of procedures. In general, the nucleic acid sequence isinserted into an appropriate restriction endonuclease site(s) byprocedures known in the art. Such procedures and others are deemed to bewithin the scope of those skilled in the art.

The nucleic acid insert should be operatively linked to an appropriatepromoter, such as the phage lambda PL promoter, the E. coli lac, trp andtac promoters, the SV40 early and late promoters and promoters ofretroviral LTRs, and other promoters known to control expression ofgenes in prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells or their viruses. Othersuitable promoters will be known to the skilled artisan. As used herein,the term “promoter” refers to a nucleotide sequence or group ofnucleotide sequences which, at a minimum, provides a binding site orinitiation site for RNA polymerase action. The expression constructswill further contain sites for transcription initiation, terminationand, in the transcribed region, a ribosome binding site for translation.The coding portion of the mature transcripts expressed by the constructswill preferably include a translation initiating at the beginning and atermination codon (UAA, UGA or UAG) appropriately positioned at the endof the polypeptide to be translated. The vector can also includeappropriate sequences for amplifying expression.

As used herein, the phrase “operatively linked” refers to a linkage inwhich a nucleotide sequence is connected to another nucleotide sequence(or sequences) in such a way as to be capable of altering thefunctioning of the sequence (or sequences). For example, a proteincoding sequence which is operatively linked to a promoter/operatorplaces expression of the protein coding sequence under the influence orcontrol of these sequences. Two nucleotide sequences (such as a proteinencoding sequence and a promoter region sequence linked to the 5′ end ofthe encoding sequence) are said to be operatively linked if induction ofpromoter function results in the transcription of the protein encodingsequence mRNA and if the nature of the linkage between the twonucleotide sequences does not (1) result in the introduction of aframe-shift mutation nor (2) prevent the expression regulatory sequencesto direct the expression of the mRNA or protein. Thus, a promoter regionwould be operatively linked to a nucleotide sequence if the promoterwere capable of effecting transcription of that nucleotide sequence.

As used herein, the phrase “cloning vector” refers to a plasmid or phagenucleic acid or other nucleic acid sequence which is able to replicateautonomously in a host cell, and which is characterized by one or asmall number of endonuclease recognition sites at which such nucleicacid sequences may be cut in a determinable fashion without loss of anessential biological function of the vector, and into which nucleic acidmay be spliced in order to bring about its replication and cloning. Thecloning vector may further contain a marker suitable for use in theidentification of cells transformed with the cloning vector. Markers,for example, are erythromycin and kanamycin resistance. The term“vehicle” is sometimes used for “vector.”

As used herein, the phrase “expression vector” refers to a vectorsimilar to a cloning vector which is capable of expressing a structuralgene cloned into the expression vector, after transformation of theexpression vector into a host. In an expression vector, the clonedstructural gene (any coding sequence of interest) is placed under thecontrol of (i.e., operatively linked to) certain sequences which allowsuch gene to be expressed in a specific host. In the pHE4-5 vector, forexample, the structural gene is operatively linked to a T5 phagepromoter sequence and two lac operator sequences. Expression controlsequences will vary, and may additionally contain transcriptionalelements such as termination sequences and/or translational elementssuch as initiation and termination sites.

As indicated above, the expression vectors will preferably include atleast one selectable marker. Such markers include dihydrofolatereductase or neomycin resistance for eukaryotic cell culture andtetracycline, kanamycin, or ampicillin resistance genes for culturing inE. coli and other bacteria. Representative examples of appropriate hostsinclude, but are not limited to, bacterial cells, such as E. coli,Streptomyces and Salmonella typhimurium cells; fungal cells, such asyeast cells; insect cells such as Drosophila S2 and Spodoptera Sf9cells; animal cells such as CHO, COS and Bowes melanoma cells; and plantcells. Appropriate culture mediums and conditions for theabove-described host cells are known in the art.

In addition to the use of expression vectors in the practice of thepresent invention, the present invention further includes novelexpression vectors comprising operator and promoter elements operativelylinked to nucleotide sequences encoding a protein of interest. Oneexample of such a vector is pHE4-5 (SEQ ID NO:56) which is described indetail both below and in Example 30. The pHE4-5 vector was deposited onSep. 30, 1997 at the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC®), 10801University Boulevard, Manassas, Va. 20110-2209, USA (present address),and given ATCC® accession number 209311.

As summarized in FIGS. 62 and 67, components of the pHE4-5 vector (SEQID NO:56) include: 1). a neomycinphosphotransferase gene as a selectionmarker, 2). an E. coli origin of replication, 3). a T5 phage promotersequence, 4). two lac operator sequences, 5). a nucleotide sequenceencoding MPIF-1Δ23 (SEQ ID NO:27), 6). a Shine-Delgamo sequence, 7). thelactose operon repressor gene (lacIq). The origin of replication (oriC)is derived from pUC19 (LTI, Gaithersburg, Md.). The promoter sequencewas and operator sequences were made synthetically. Synthetic productionof nucleic acid sequences is well known in the art. CLONTECH 95/96Catalog, pages 215–216, CLONTECH, 1020 East Meadow Circle, Palo Alto,Calif. 94303.

As noted above, the pHE4-5 vector contains a lacIq gene. LacIq is anallele of the lacI gene which confers tight regulation of the lacoperator. Amann, E. et al., Gene 69:301–315 (1988); Stark, M., Gene51:255–267 (1987). The lacIq gene encodes a repressor protein whichbinds to lac operator sequences and blocks transcription of down-stream(i.e., 3′) sequences. However, the lacIq gene product dissociates fromthe lac operator in the presence of either lactose or certain lactoseanalogs, e.g., isopropyl B-D-thiogalactopyranoside (IPTG). MPIF-1Δ23thus is not produced in appreciable quantities in uninduced host cellscontaining the pHE4-5 vector. Induction of these host cells by theaddition of an agent such as IPTG, however, results in the expression ofthe MPIF-1Δ23 coding sequence.

The promoter/operator sequences of the pHE4-5 vector (SEQ ID NO:57)comprise a T5 phage promoter and two lac operator sequences. Oneoperator is located 5′ to the transcriptional start site and the otheris located 3′ to the same site. These operators, when present incombination with the lacIq gene product, confer tight repression ofdown-stream sequences in the absence of a lac operon inducer, e.g.,IPTG. Expression of operatively linked sequences located down-streamfrom the lac operators may be induced by the addition of a lac operoninducer, such as IPTG. Binding of a lac inducer to the lacIq proteinsresults in their release from the lac operator sequences and theinitiation of transcription of operatively linked sequences. Lac operonregulation of gene expression is reviewed in Devlin, T., TEXTBOOK OFBIOCHEMISTRY WITH CLINICAL CORRELATIONS, 4th Edition (1997), pages802–807.

The pHE4 series of vectors contain all of the components of the pHE4-5vector except for the MPIF-1Δ23 coding sequence. Features of the pHE4vectors include optimized synthetic T5 phage promoter, lac operator, andShine-Delagamo sequences. Further, these sequences are also optimallyspaced so that expression of an inserted gene may be tightly regulatedand high level of expression occurs upon induction.

Among known bacterial promoters suitable for use in the production ofproteins of the present invention include the E. coli lacI and lacZpromoters, the T3 and T7 promoters, the gpt promoter, the lambda PR andPL promoters and the trp promoter. Suitable eukaryotic promoters includethe CMV immediate early promoter, the HSV thymidine kinase promoter, theearly and late SV40 promoters, the promoters of retroviral LTRs, such asthose of the Rous Sarcoma Virus (RSV), and metallothionein promoters,such as the mouse metallothionein-I promoter.

The pHE4-5 vector also contains a Shine-Delgarno sequence 5′ to the AUGinitiation codon. Shine-Delgarno sequences are short sequences generallylocated about 10 nucleotides up-stream (i.e., 5′) from the AUGinitiation codon. These sequences essentially direct prokaryoticribosomes to the AUG initiation codon.

Thus, the present invention is also directed to expression vector usefulfor the production of the proteins of the present invention. This aspectof the invention is exemplified by the pHE4-5 vector (SEQ ID NO:56).

Additional vectors preferred for use in the expression of the proteinsof the present invention in bacteria include pQE70, pQE60 and pQE-9,(Qiagen); pBS vectors, pD10, Phagescript vectors, pBluescript vectors,pNH8A, pNH16a, pNH18A, pNH46A, available from Stratagene; and ptrc99a,pKK233-3, pDR540, pRIT5 available from Pharmacia. Among preferredeukaryotic vectors are pWLNEO, pSV2CAT, pOG44, pXT1 and pSG availablefrom Stratagene; and pSVK3, pBPV, pMSG and pSVL available fromPharmacia.

Other suitable vectors will be readily apparent to the skilled artisanand include pBR322 (ATCC® 37017), pKK223-3 (Pharmacia Fine Chemicals,Uppsala, Sweden) and GEMI (Promega Biotec, Madison, Wis., USA). ThesepBR322 “backbone” sections are combined with an appropriate promoter andthe structural sequence to be expressed. Following transformation of asuitable host strain and growth of the host strain to an appropriatecell density, the selected promoter is induced by appropriate means(e.g., temperature shift or chemical induction) and cells are culturedfor an additional period.

In a further embodiment, the present invention relates to host cellscontaining the above-described construct. The host cell can be a highereukaryotic cell, such as a mammalian cell, or a lower eukaryotic cell,such as a yeast cell, or the host cell can be a prokaryotic cell, suchas a bacterial cell. Introduction of the construct into the host cellcan be effected by calcium phosphate transfection, DEAE-dextran mediatedtransfection, cationic lipid-mediated transfection, electroporation,transduction, infection or other methods. Such methods are described inmany standard laboratory manuals, such as Davis et al., BASIC METHODS INMOLECULAR BIOLOGY (1986).

Recombinant constructs may be introduced into host cells using wellknown techniques such infection, transduction, transfection,transvection, electroporation and transformation. The vector may be, forexample, a phage, plasmid, viral or retroviral vector. Retroviralvectors may be replication competent or replication defective. In thelatter case, viral propagation generally will occur only incomplementing host cells.

Host cells are genetically engineered (transduced or transformed ortransfected) with the vectors of this invention which can be, forexample, a cloning vector or an expression vector. The vector can be,for example, in the form of a plasmid, a viral particle, a phage, etc.The engineered host cells can be cultured in conventional nutrient mediamodified as appropriate for activating promoters, selectingtransformants or amplifying the MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF genes. Theculture conditions, such as temperature, pH and the like, are thosepreviously used with the host cell selected for expression, and will beapparent to the ordinarily skilled artisan.

The polynucleotides of the present invention can be employed forproducing polypeptides by recombinant techniques. Thus, for example, thepolynucleotide sequence can be included in any one of a variety ofexpression vehicles, in particular vectors or plasmids for expressing apolypeptide. Such vectors include chromosomal, nonchromosomal andsynthetic nucleic acid sequences, e.g., derivatives of SV40; bacterialplasmids; phage nucleic acid; yeast plasmids; vectors derived fromcombinations of plasmids and phage nucleic acid, viral nucleic acid suchas vaccinia, adenovirus, fowl pox virus, alphaviruses and pseudorabies.However, any other plasmid or vector can be used as long they arereplicable and viable in the host.

As noted above, the vector containing the appropriate nucleic acidsequence as hereinabove described, as well as an appropriate promoter orcontrol sequence, can be employed to transform an appropriate host topermit the host to express the protein.

As representative examples of appropriate hosts, there can be mentioned:bacterial cells, such as E. coli, Streptomyces, Salmonella typhimurium;fungal cells, such as yeast; insect cells such as Drosophila and Sf9;animal cells such as CHO, COS or Bowes melanoma; plant cells, etc. Theselection of an appropriate host is deemed to be within the scope ofthose skilled in the art from the teachings herein.

More particularly, the present invention also includes recombinantconstructs comprising one or more of the sequences as broadly describedabove. The constructs comprise a vector, such as a plasmid or viralvector, into which a sequence of the invention has been inserted, in aforward or reverse orientation. In a preferred aspect of thisembodiment, the construct further comprises regulatory sequences,including, for example, a promoter, operatively linked to the sequence.Large numbers of suitable vectors and promoters are known to those ofskill in the art, and are commercially available. The following vectorsare provided by way of example. Bacterial: pQE70, pQE60, pQE-9 (Qiagen),pBS, pD10, phagescript, psiX174, pBluescript SK, pbsks, pNH8A, pNH16a,pNH18A, pNH46A (Stratagene); ptrc99a, pKK223-3, pKK233-3, pDR540, pRIT5(Pharmacia). Eukaryotic: pWLNEO, pSV2CAT, pOG44, pXT1, pSG (Stratagene)pSVK3, pBPV, pMSG, pSVL (Pharmacia). However, any other plasmid orvector can be used as long as they are replicable and viable in thehost.

The constructs in host cells can be used in a conventional manner toproduce the gene product encoded by the recombinant sequence.Alternatively, the polypeptides of the invention can be syntheticallyproduced by conventional peptide synthesizers.

Mature proteins can be expressed in mammalian cells, yeast, bacteria, orother cells under the control of appropriate promoters. Cell-freetranslation systems can also be employed to produce such proteins usingRNAs derived from the nucleic acid constructs of the present invention.Appropriate cloning and expression vectors for use with prokaryotic andeukaryotic hosts are described by Sambrook, et al., Molecular Cloning: ALaboratory Manual, Second Edition, Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., (1989), thedisclosure of which is hereby incorporated by reference.

Generally, recombinant expression vectors will include origins ofreplication and selectable markers permitting transformation of the hostcell, e.g., the ampicillin resistance gene of E. coli and S. cerevisiaeTRP1 gene, and a promoter derived from a highly-expressed gene to directtranscription of a downstream structural sequence. Such promoters can bederived from operons encoding glycolytic enzymes such as3-phosphoglycerate kinase (PGK), α-factor, acid phosphatase, or heatshock proteins, among others. The heterologous structural sequence isassembled in appropriate phase with translation initiation andtermination sequences, and preferably, a leader sequence capable ofdirecting secretion of translated protein into the periplasmic space orextracellular medium. Optionally, the heterologous sequence can encode afusion protein including an N-terminal identification peptide impartingdesired characteristics, e.g., stabilization or simplified purificationof expressed recombinant product.

Useful expression vectors for bacterial use are constructed by insertinga structural nucleic acid sequence encoding a desired protein togetherwith suitable translation initiation and termination signals in operablereading phase with a functional promoter. The vector will comprise oneor more phenotypic selectable markers and an origin of replication toensure maintenance of the vector and to, if desirable, provideamplification within the host. Suitable prokaryotic hosts fortransformation include E. coli, Bacillus subtilis, Salmonellatyphimurium and various species within the genera Pseudomonas,Streptomyces, and Staphylococcus, although others can also be employedas a matter of choice.

Cells are typically harvested by centrifugation, disrupted by physicalor chemical means, and the resulting crude extract retained for furtherpurification.

Microbial cells employed in expression of proteins can be disrupted byany convenient method, including freeze-thaw cycling, sonication,mechanical disruption, or use of cell lysing agents, such methods arewell known to those skilled in the art.

Various mammalian cell culture systems can also be employed to expressrecombinant protein. Examples of mammalian expression systems includethe COS-7 lines of monkey kidney fibroblasts, described by Gluzman, Cell23:175 (1981), and other cell lines capable of expressing a compatiblevector, for example, the C127, 3T3, CHO, HeLa and BHK cell lines.Mammalian expression vectors will comprise an origin of replication, asuitable promoter and enhancer, and also any necessary ribosome bindingsites, polyadenylation site, splice donor and acceptor sites,transcriptional termination sequences, and 5′ flanking nontranscribedsequences. Nucleic acid sequences derived from the SV40 splice, andpolyadenylation sites can be used to provide the required nontranscribedgenetic elements.

Polypeptides and Polypeptide Fragments. The invention further providesan isolated MPIF-1, M-CIF, or MIP-4 polypeptide having the amino acidsequence encoded by the deposited cDNA, or the amino acid sequence inFIG. 1, 2 or 3 (SEQ ID NOS:4, 2 or 6, respectively), or a peptide orpolypeptide comprising a portion of the above polypeptides. The terms“peptide” and “oligopeptide” are considered synonymous (as is commonlyrecognized) and each term can be used interchangeably as the contextrequires to indicate a chain of at least two amino acids coupled bypeptidyl linkages. The word “polypeptide” is used herein for chainscontaining more than ten amino acid residues. All oligopeptide andpolypeptide formulas or sequences herein are written from left to rightand in the direction from amino terminus to carboxy terminus.

By “a polypeptide having MPIF-1 activity” is intended polypeptidesexhibiting activity similar, but not necessarily identical, to anactivity of the MPIF-1 protein of the invention (either the full-lengthprotein or, preferably, the mature protein), as measured in a particularbiological assay. MPIF-1 protein activity can be measured by the assaysset forth in Examples 15, 16, as well as FIG. 11. For example, MPIF-1protein activity measured using the in vitro myeloprotection assaydisclosed in Example 15, infra.

Briefly, lineage-depleted populations of cells (Lin⁻ cells) are isolatedfrom mouse bone marrow and incubated in the presence of multiplecytokines with or without MPIF-1. After 48 hours, one set of eachculture receives 5-Fu and the incubation is then continued foradditional 24 hours, at which point the numbers of surviving lowproliferative potential colony-forming cells (LPP-CFC) are determined byany suitable clonogenic assay known to those of skill in the art. Alarge percentage (e.g., ≧30–50%, such as ≧40%) of LPP-CFC are protectedfrom the 5-Fu-induced cytotoxicity in the presence of MPIF-1, whereaslittle protection (<5%) of LPP-CFC will be observed in the absence ofMPIF-1 or in the presence of an unrelated protein. In such an assay,high proliferative potential colony-forming cells (HPP-CFC) canadditionally be protected from the 5-Fu-induced cytotoxicity in thepresence of MPIF-1, but in some cases are not. HPP-CFC are generally notprotected when LPP-CFC are not protected.

Thus, “a polypeptide having MPIF-1 protein activity” includespolypeptides that exhibit MPIF-1 activity, in the above-described assay.Although the degree of activity need not be identical to that of theMPIF-1 protein, preferably, “a polypeptide having MPIF-1 proteinactivity” will exhibit substantially similar activity as compared to theMPIF-1 protein (i.e., the candidate polypeptide will exhibit greateractivity or not more than about twenty-fold less and, preferably, notmore than about ten-fold less activity relative to the reference MPIF-1protein).

By “a polypeptide having M-CIF activity” is intended polypeptidesexhibiting activity similar, but not necessarily identical, to anactivity of the M-CIF protein of the invention (either the full-lengthprotein or, preferably, the mature protein), as measured in a particularbiological assay. For example, M-CIF protein activity can be measuredusing the in vitro inhibition of M-CSF-induced colony formation byanimal cells, such as bone marrow cells, in an assay as described inExample 25, infra.

Thus, “a polypeptide having M-CIF protein activity” includespolypeptides that exhibit M-CIF activity, in the above-described assay.Although the degree of activity need not be identical to that of theM-CIF protein, preferably, “a polypeptide having M-CIF protein activity”will exhibit substantially similar activity as compared to the M-CIFprotein (i.e., the candidate polypeptide will exhibit greater activityor not more than about twenty-fold less and, preferably, not more thanabout ten-fold less activity relative to the reference M-CIF protein).

The present invention further relates to MPIF-1, M-CIF and MIP-4polypeptides which have the deduced amino acid sequence of FIGS. 1, 2and 3 (SEQ ID NOS:4, 2 and 6) or which have the amino acid sequenceencoded by the deposited cDNA, as well as fragments, analogs andderivatives of such polypeptide.

The terms “fragment,” “derivative” and “analog” when referring to thepolypeptides of FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 (SEQ ID NOS:4, 2 and 6) or that encodedby the deposited cDNA, means a polypeptide which retains essentially thesame biological function or activity as such polypeptide. Thus, ananalog includes a proprotein which can be activated by cleavage of theproprotein portion to produce an active mature polypeptide.

The polypeptides of the present invention can be a recombinantpolypeptide, a natural polypeptide or a synthetic polypeptide,preferably a recombinant polypeptide.

The fragment, derivative or analog of the polypeptides of FIGS. 1, 2 and3 (SEQ ID NOS:4, 2 and 6) or that encoded by the deposited cDNA can be(i) one in which one or more of the amino acid residues are substitutedwith a conserved or non-conserved amino acid residue (preferably aconserved amino acid residue) and such substituted amino acid residuesis or is not be one encoded by the genetic code, or (ii) one in whichone or more of the amino acid residues includes a substituent group, or(iii) one in which the mature polypeptides are fused with anothercompound, such as a compound to increase the half-life of thepolypeptide (for example, polyethylene glycol), or (iv) one in which theadditional amino acids are fused to the mature polypeptides, such as aleader or secretory sequence or a sequence which is employed forpurification of the mature polypeptides or a proprotein sequence. Suchfragments, derivatives and analogs are deemed to be within the scope ofthose skilled in the art from the teachings herein.

The polypeptides of the present invention are preferably provided in anisolated form, and preferably are purified to homogeneity.

The polypeptides of the present invention include the polypeptide of SEQID NOS:2, 4 and 6 (in particular the mature polypeptide) as well aspolypeptides which have at least 95% similarity (still more preferablyat least 95% identity) to the polypeptide of SEQ ID NOS:2, 4 and 6 andalso include portions of such polypeptides with such portion of thepolypeptide generally containing at least 30 amino acids and morepreferably at least 50 amino acids.

As known in the art “similarity” between two polypeptides is determinedby comparing the amino acid sequence and its conserved amino acidsubstitutes of one polypeptide to the sequence of a second polypeptide.

Of course, due to the degeneracy of the genetic code, one of ordinaryskill in the art will immediately recognize that a large number of thenucleic acid molecules having a sequence at least 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or99% identical to the nucleic acid sequence of the deposited cDNA (ATCC®75676) or the nucleic acid sequence shown in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:3) willencode a polypeptide “having MPIF-1 protein activity.” One of ordinaryskill in the art will also immediately recognize that a large number ofthe nucleic acid molecules having a sequence at least 95%, 96%, 97%,98%, or 99% identical to the nucleic acid sequence of the deposited cDNA(ATCC® 75572) or the nucleic acid sequence shown in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:1)will encode a polypeptide “having M-CIF protein activity.” Additionally,one of ordinary skill in the art will immediately recognize that a largenumber of the nucleic acid molecules having a sequence at least 95%,96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% identical to the nucleic acid sequence of thedeposited cDNA (ATCC® 75675) or the nucleic acid sequence shown in FIG.3 (SEQ ID NO:5) will encode a polypeptide “having MIP-4 proteinactivity.” In fact, since degenerate variants of these nucleotidesequences all encode the same polypeptide, this will be clear to theskilled artisan even without performing the above described comparisonassay. It will be further recognized in the art that, for such nucleicacid molecules that are not degenerate variants, a reasonable numberwill also encode a polypeptide having MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 proteinactivity. This is because the skilled artisan is fully aware of aminoacid substitutions that are either less likely or not likely tosignificantly effect protein function (e.g. replacing one aliphaticamino acid with a second aliphatic amino acid).

For example, guidance concerning how to make phenotypically silent aminoacid substitutions is provided in Bowie, J. U. et al., “Deciphering theMessage in Protein Sequences: Tolerance to Amino Acid Substitutions,”Science 247:1306–1310 (1990), wherein the authors indicate that thereare two main approaches for studying the tolerance of an amino acidsequence to change. The first method relies on the process of evolution,in which mutations are either accepted or rejected by natural selection.The second approach uses genetic engineering to introduce amino acidchanges at specific positions of a cloned gene and selections or screensto identify sequences that maintain functionality. As the authors state,these studies have revealed that proteins are surprisingly tolerant ofamino acid substitutions. The authors further indicate which amino acidchanges are likely to be permissive at a certain position of theprotein. For example, most buried amino acid residues require nonpolarside chains, whereas few features of surface side chains are generallyconserved. Other such phenotypically silent substitutions are describedin Bowie, J. U. et al., supra, and the references cited therein.

Fragments or portions of the polypeptides of the present invention maybe employed for producing the corresponding full-length polypeptide bypeptide synthesis; therefore, the fragments may be employed asintermediates for producing the full-length polypeptides. Fragments orportions of the polynucleotides of the present invention may be used tosynthesize full-length polynucleotides of the present invention.

For secretion of the translated protein into the lumen of theendoplasmic reticulum, into the periplasmic space or into theextracellular environment, appropriate secretion signals may beincorporated into the expressed polypeptide. The signals may beendogenous to the polypeptide or they may be heterologous signals.

The polypeptide may be expressed in a modified form, such as a fusionprotein, and may include not only secretion signals, but also additionalheterologous functional regions. For instance, a region of additionalamino acids, particularly charged amino acids, may be added to theN-terminus of the polypeptide to improve stability and persistence inthe host cell, during purification, or during subsequent handling andstorage. Also, peptide moieties may be added to the polypeptide tofacilitate purification. Such regions may be removed prior to finalpreparation of the polypeptide. The addition of peptide moieties topolypeptides to engender secretion or excretion, to improve stabilityand to facilitate purification, among others, are familiar and routinetechniques in the art. A preferred fusion protein comprises aheterologous region from immunoglobulin that is useful to solubilizeproteins. For example, EP-A-O 464 533 (Canadian counterpart 2045869)discloses fusion proteins comprising various portions of constant regionof immunoglobin molecules together with another human protein or partthereof. In many cases, the Fc part in a fusion protein is thoroughlyadvantageous for use in therapy and diagnosis and thus results, forexample, in improved pharmacokinetic properties (EP-A 0232 262). On theother hand, for some uses it would be desirable to be able to delete theFc part after the fusion protein has been expressed, detected andpurified in the advantageous manner described. This is the case when Fcportion proves to be a hindrance to use in therapy and diagnosis, forexample when the fusion protein is to be used as antigen forimmunizations. In drug discovery, for example, human proteins, such as,hIL5-receptor has been fused with Fc portions for the purpose ofhigh-throughput screening assays to identify antagonists of hIL-5. See,D. Bennett et al., Journal of Molecular Recognition, Vol. 8:52–58 (1995)and K. Johanson et al., The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Vol. 270,No. 16:9459–9471 (1995).

The MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein can be recovered and purified fromrecombinant cell cultures by well-known methods including ammoniumsulfate or ethanol precipitation, acid extraction, anion or cationexchange chromatography, phosphocellulose chromatography, hydrophobicinteraction chromatography, affinity chromatography, hydroxylapatitechromatography and lectin chromatography. Most preferably, highperformance liquid chromatography (“HPLC”) is employed for purification.Polypeptides of the present invention include naturally purifiedproducts, products of chemical synthetic procedures, and productsproduced by recombinant techniques from a prokaryotic or eukaryotichost, including, for example, bacterial, yeast, higher plant, insect andmammalian cells. Depending upon the host employed in a recombinantproduction procedure, the polypeptides of the present invention may beglycosylated or may be non-glycosylated. In addition, polypeptides ofthe invention may also include an initial modified methionine residue,in some cases as a result of host-mediated processes.

MPIF-1, M-CIF and MIP-4 Polypeptide Variants. It will be recognized inthe art that some amino acid sequences of the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4polypeptide can be varied without significant effect of the structure orfunction of the protein. If such differences in sequence arecontemplated, it should be remembered that there will be critical areason the protein which determine activity. In general, it is possible toreplace residues which form the tertiary structure, provided thatresidues performing a similar function are used. In other instances, thetype of residue may be completely unimportant if the alteration occursat a non-critical region of the protein.

Thus, the invention further includes variations of an MPIF-1, M-CIF orMIP-4 polypeptide which show, respectively, substantial MPIF-1, M-CIF orMIP-4 polypeptide activity or which include regions, respectively, of anMPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein such as the protein portions discussedbelow. Such mutants include deletions, insertions, inversions, repeats,and type substitutions (for example, substituting one hydrophilicresidue for another, but not strongly hydrophilic for stronglyhydrophobic as a rule). Small changes or such “neutral” amino acidsubstitutions will generally have little effect on activity.

Typically seen as conservative substitutions are the replacements, onefor another, among the aliphatic amino acids Ala, Val, Leu and Ile;interchange of the hydroxyl residues Ser and Thr, exchange of the acidicresidues Asp and Glu, substitution between the amide residues Asn andGln, exchange of the basic residues Lys and Arg and replacements amongthe aromatic residues Phe, Tyr.

Of additional special interest are also substitutions of charged aminoacids with another charged amino acid or with neutral amino acids. Thismay result in proteins with improved characteristics such as lessaggregation. Prevention of aggregation is highly desirable. Aggregationof proteins cannot only result in a reduced activity but be problematicwhen preparing pharmaceutical formulations because they can beimmunogenic (Pinckard et al., Clin. Exp. Immunol. 2:331–340 (1967),Robbins et al., Diabetes 36: 838–845 (1987), Cleland et al., Crit. Rev.Therapeutic Drug Carrier Systems 10:307–377 (1993).

The replacement of amino acids can also change the selectivity of thebinding to cell surface receptors. Ostade et al., Nature 361: 266–268(1993), described certain TNF alpha mutations resulting in selectivebinding of TNF alpha to only one of the two known TNF receptors.

As indicated in detail above, further guidance concerning which aminoacid changes are likely to be phenotypically silent (i.e., are notlikely to have a significant deleterious effect on a function) can befound in Bowie, J. U., et al., “Deciphering the Message in ProteinSequences: Tolerance to Amino Acid Substitutions,” Science 247:1306–1310(1990) (see Table 1).

As indicated, changes are preferably of a minor nature, such asconservative amino acid substitutions that do not significantly affectthe folding or activity of the protein (see Table 1).

TABLE 1 Conservative Amino Acid Substitutions. Aromatic PhenylalanineTryptophan Tyrosine Hydrophobic Leucine Isoleucine Valine PolarGlutamine Asparagine Basic Arginine Lysine Histidine Acidic AsparticAcid Glutamic Acid Small Alanine Serine Threonine Methionine Glycine

Of course, the number of amino acid substitutions a skilled artisanwould make depends on many factors, including those described above andbelow. Generally speaking, the number of substitutions for any givenMPIF-1 or MCIF polypeptide or mutant thereof will not be more than 50,40, 30, 20, 10, 5, or 3, depending on the objective. Specific MPIF-1 andMCIF amino acid substitutions are described below.

MPIF-1 Variants. In addition, variants of MPIF-1 have been identifiedand characterized. Several of these analogs comprise amino terminaltruncations. In addition, an MPIF-1 analog apparently resulting from analternative splice site has also been identified and characterized (FIG.26 (SEQ ID NO:11)). Example 17 discloses the biological activities ofthese MPIF-1 analogs. The sequences of these analogs are shown in FIG.25 (SEQ ID NOS:7, 8, and 9, as well amino acid residues 46–120, 45–120,48–120, 49–120, 39–120, and 44–120 in SEQ ID NO:4).

In order to improve or alter the characteristics of the MPIF-1polypeptide(s), protein engineering may be employed. Recombinant DNAtechnology known to those skilled in the art can be used to create novelproteins. Muteins and deletions or fusion proteins can show, e.g.,enhanced activity or increased stability. In addition, they could bepurified in higher yields and show better solubility at least undercertain purification and storage conditions. Set below are additionalexamples of mutations that can be constructed.

MPIF-1 Aminoterminal and carboxyterminal deletions: Interferon gammashows up to ten times higher activities by deleting 8–10 amino acidresidues from the carboxy terminus of the protein (Döbeli et al., J. ofBiotechnology 7:199–216 (1988). Ron et al., J. Biol. Chem.,268(4):2984–2988 (1993) reported modified KGF proteins that had heparinbinding activity even if 3, 8, or 27 amino terminal amino acid residueswere missing. Many other examples are known to anyone skilled in theart.

Particularly preferred MPIF-1 polypeptides of the amino acid sequenceshown in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4) are shown below:

Val (23)–Asn (120) Val (23)–Lys (119) Thr (24)–Asn (120) Thr (24)–Arg(118) Lys (25)–Asn (120) Lys (25)–Thr (117) Asp (26)–Asn (120) Asp(26)–Lys (116) Ala (27)–Asn (120) Ala (27)–Ile (115) Glu (28)–Asn (120)Glu (28)–Arg (114) Thr (29)–Asn (120) Thr (29)–Thr (113) Glu (30)–Asn(120) Thr (29)–Asp (112) Phe (31)–Asn (120) Thr (29)–Leu (111) Met(32)–Asn (120) Thr (29)–Lys (110) Met (33)–Asn (120) Met (33)–Leu (109)Ser (34)–Asn (120) Ser (34)–Met (108) Lys (35)–Asn (120) Ser (34)–Arg(107) Leu (36)–Asn (120) Ser (34)–Met (106) Pro (37)–Asn (120) Ser(34)–Cys (105) Leu (38)–Asn (120) Ser (34)–Val (104) Glu (39)–Asn (120)Ser (34)–Gln (103) Asn (40)–Asn (120) Ser (34)–Val (102) Pro (41)–Asn(120) Ser (34)–Gln (101) Val (42)–Asn (120) Ser (34)–Lys (100) Leu(43)–Asn (120) Ser (34)–Asp (99) Leu (44)–Asn (120) Ser (34)–Ser (98)Asp (45)–Asn (120) Ser (34)–Pro (97) Arg (46)–Asn (120) Ser (34)–Asn(96) Phe (47)–Asn (120) Ser (34)–Ala (95) His (48)–Asn (120) Ser(34)–Cys (94) Ala (49)–Asn (120) Ser (34)–Phe (93) Thr (50)–Asn (120)Ser (34)–Arg (92) Ser (51)–Asn (120) Ser (34)–Arg (91) Ala (52)–Asn(120) Ser (34)–Gly (90) Asp (53)–Asn (120) Ser (34)–Lys (89) Ser(34)–Ile (84) Ser (34)–Ser (79) Ser (34)–Asn (75) Ser (34)–Phe (72) Ser(34)–Leu (68)

Thus, in one aspect, MPIF-1 N-terminal deletion mutants are provided bythe present invention. Such mutants include those comprising an aminoacid sequence shown in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4) having a deletion of atleast the first 22 N-terminal amino acid residues (i.e., a deletion ofat least Met (1)-Arg (22)) but not more than the first 60 N-terminalamino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4). Alternatively, the deletionwill include at least the first 22 N-terminal amino acid residues butnot more than the first 53 N-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQID NO:4). Alternatively, the deletion will include at least the first 33N-terminal amino acid residues but not more than the first 53 N-terminalamino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4). Alternatively, the deletionwill include at least the first 37 N-terminal amino acid residues (i.e.,a deletion of at least Met (1)-Pro (37)) but not more than the first 53N-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4). Alternatively,the deletion will include at least the first 48 N-terminal amino acidresidues but not more than the first 53 N-terminal amino acid residuesof FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4).

In addition to the ranges of MPIF-1 N-terminal deletion mutantsdescribed above, the present invention is also directed to allcombinations of the above described ranges, e.g., deletions of at leastthe first 22 N-terminal amino acid residues but not more than the first48 N-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4); deletions ofat least the first 37 N-terminal amino acid residues but not more thanthe first 48 N-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4);deletions of at least the first 22 N-terminal amino acid residues butnot more than the first 37 N-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQID NO:4); deletions of at least the first 22 N-terminal amino acidresidues but not more than the first 33 N-terminal amino acid residuesof FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4); deletions of at least the first 33 N-terminalamino acid residues but not more than the first 37 N-terminal amino acidresidues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4); and deletions of at least the first 33N-terminal amino acid residues but not more than the first 48 N-terminalamino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4).

In another aspect, MPIF-1 C-terminal deletion mutants are provided bythe present invention. Preferably, the N-terminal amino acid residue ofsaid MPIF-1 C-terminal deletion mutants is amino acid residue 1 (Met) or22 (Arg) of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4). Such mutants include those comprisingan amino acid sequence shown in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4) having a deletionof at least the last C-terminal amino acid residue (Asn (120)) but notmore than the last 52 C-terminal amino acid residues (e.g., a deletionof amino acid residues Glu (69)-Asn (120) of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4)).Alternatively, the deletion will include at least the last 10 or 15C-terminal amino acid residues but not more than the last 52 C-terminalamino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4). Alternatively, the deletionwill include at least the last 20 C-terminal amino acid residues but notmore than the last 52 C-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ IDNO:4). Alternatively, the deletion will include at least the last 30C-terminal amino acid residues but not more than the last 52 C-terminalamino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4). Alternatively, the deletionwill include at least the last 36 C-terminal amino acid residues but notmore than the last 52 C-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ IDNO:4). Alternatively, the deletion will include at least the last 41C-terminal amino acid residues but not more than the last 52 C-terminalamino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4). Alternatively, the deletionwill include at least the last 45 C-terminal amino acid residues but notmore than the last 52 C-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ IDNO:4). Alternatively, the deletion will include at least the last 48C-terminal amino acid residues but not more than the last 52 C-terminalamino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4).

In addition to the ranges of C-terminal deletion mutants describedabove, the present invention is also directed to all combinations of theabove described ranges, e.g., deletions of at least the last C-terminalamino acid residue but not more than the last 48 C-terminal amino acidresidues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4); deletions of at least the lastC-terminal amino acid residue but not more than the last 45 C-terminalamino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4); deletions of at least thelast C-terminal amino acid residue but not more than the last 41C-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4); deletions of atleast the last C-terminal amino acid residue but not more than the last36 C-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4); deletions ofat least the last C-terminal amino acid residue but not more than thelast 10 C-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4);deletions of at least the last 10 C-terminal amino acid residues but notmore than the last 20 C-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ IDNO:4); deletions of at least the last 10 C-terminal amino acid residuesbut not more than the last 30 C-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 1(SEQ ID NO:4); deletions of at least the last 10 C-terminal amino acidresidues but not more than the last 36 C-terminal amino acid residues ofFIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4); deletions of at least the last 20 C-terminal aminoacid residues but not more than the last 30 C-terminal amino acidresidues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4); etc. etc. etc. . . .

In yet another aspect, also included by the present invention are MPIF-1deletion mutants having amino acids deleted from both the N-terminal andC-terminal residues. Such mutants include all combinations of theN-terminal deletion mutants and C-terminal deletion mutants describedabove. Such mutants include those comprising an amino acid sequenceshown in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4) having a deletion of at least the first 22N-terminal amino acid residues but not more than the first 52 N-terminalamino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4) and a deletion of at leastthe last C-terminal amino acid residue but not more than the last 52C-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4). Alternatively, adeletion can include at least the first 33, 37, or 48 N-terminal aminoacids but not more than the first 52 N-terminal amino acid residues ofFIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4) and a deletion of at least the last 10, 20, 30, 36,41, 45, or 48 C-terminal amino acid residues but not more than the last52 C-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4). Furtherincluded are all combinations of the above described ranges.

Substitution of amino acids: A further aspect of the present inventionalso includes the substitution of amino acids. Of special interest areconservative amino acid substitutions that do not significantly affectthe folding of the protein. Examples of conservative amino acidsubstitutions known to those skilled in the art are set forth Table 1,above.

Of additional special interest are also substitutions of charged aminoacids with another charged amino acid or with neutral amino acids. Thismay result in proteins with improved characteristics such as lessaggregation. Prevention of aggregation is highly desirable. Aggregationof proteins cannot only result in a reduced activity but be problematicwhen preparing pharmaceutical formulations because they can beimmunogenic (Pinckard et al., Clin. Exp. Immunol. 2:331–340 (1967),Robbins et al., Diabetes 36:838–845 (1987), Cleland et al., Crit. Rev.Therapeutic Drug Carrier Systems 10:307–377 (1993).

The MPIF-1 protein may contain one or several amino acid substitutions,deletions or additions, either from natural mutation or humanmanipulation. Examples of some preferred mutations of the amino acidsequence shown in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4) are provided below. (By thedesignation, for example, Ala (21) Met is intended that the Ala atposition 21 of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4) is replaced by Met.)

-   Ala (21) Met-   Thr (24) Ala-   Lys (25) Asn-   Asp (26) Ala-   Asp (45) Ala-   Asp (45) Gly-   Asp (45) Ser-   Asp (45) Thr-   Asp (45) Met-   Asp (53) Ala-   Asp (53) Gly-   Asp (53) Ser-   Asp (53) Thr-   Asp (53) Met-   Ser (51) Gly-   Ser (34) Gly-   Glu (30) Gln-   Glu (28) Gln-   Pro (60) Thr-   Ser (70) Ala    Aminoterminal Deletions of the MPIF-1137 Amino Acid Splice Variant:

As indicated above, the present invention further provides a humanMPIF-1 splice variant. The cDNA sequence and the 137 amino acid sequenceare shown in FIG. 26A (SEQ ID NOs:10 and 11, respectively). Usingeukaryotic expression systems, the present inventors have discoveredthree N-terminal deletion mutants of this MPIF-1 splice variant. Theseinclude His (60)-Asn (137); Met (46)-Asn (137); and Pro (54)-Asn (137).Thus, in a further aspect, MPIF-1 splice variant N-terminal deletionmutants are provided by the present invention. Such mutants includethose comprising an amino acid sequence shown in FIG. 26A (SEQ ID NO:11)having a deletion of at least the first 45 N-terminal amino acidresidues but not more than the first 59 N-terminal amino acid residuesof FIG. 26A (SEQ ID NO:11). Alternatively, the deletion will include atleast the first 53 N-terminal amino acid residues but not more than thefirst 59 N-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 26A (SEQ ID NO:11).Alternatively, the deletion will include at least the first 45N-terminal amino acid residues but not more than the first 53 N-terminalamino acid residues of FIG. 26A (SEQ ID NO:11).

M-CIF Variants. In order to improve or alter the characteristics of theM-CIF polypeptide(s), protein engineering may be employed. RecombinantDNA technology known to those skilled in the art can be used to createnovel proteins. Muteins and deletions or fusion proteins can show, e.g.,enhanced activity or increased stability. In addition, they could bepurified in higher yields and show better solubility at least undercertain purification and storage conditions. Set below are examples ofmutations that can be constructed.

M-CIF Amino terminal and carboxyterminal deletions: Interferon gammashows up to ten times higher activities by deleting 8–10 amino acidresidues from the carboxy terminus of the protein (Döbeli et al., J. ofBiotechnology 7:199–216 (1988). Ron et al., J. Biol. Chem.,268(4):2984–2988 (1993) reported modified KGF proteins that had heparinbinding activity even if 3, 8, or 27 amino terminal amino acid residueswere missing. Many other examples are known to anyone skilled in theart.

Particularly preferred variants of M-CIF polypeptides of some preferredmutations of the amino acid sequence shown in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2) are:

-   Gly (19)-Asn (93)-   Gly (19)-Glu (92)-   Thr (20)-Asn (93)-   Thr (20)-Glu (92)-   Lys (21)-Asn (93)-   Thr (20)-Lys (91)-   Thr (22)-Asn (93)-   Thr (20)-Lys (81)-   Glu (23)-Asn (93)-   Thr (20)-Cys (75)-   Ser (24)-Asn (93)-   Lys (21)-Glu (92)-   Ser (25)-Asn (93)-   Thr (22)-Lys (91)-   Ser (26)-Asn (93)-   Glu (23)-Lys (91)-   Arg (27)-Asn (93)-   Ser (24)-Lys (91)-   Gly (28)-Asn (93)-   Ser (25)-Glu (92)-   Pro (29)-Asn (93)-   Ser (25)-Lys (91)-   Tyr (30)-Asn (93)-   Ser (25)-Met (90)-   His (31)-Asn (93)-   Ser (25)-Lys (88)-   Pro (32)-Asn (93)-   Ser (25)-Lys (81)-   Ser (33)-Asn (93)-   Ser (25)-Cys (75)-   Glu (34)-Asn (93)-   Ser (26)-Cys (75)

Thus, in one aspect, M-CIF N-terminal deletion mutants are provided bythe present invention. Such mutants include those comprising an aminoacid sequence shown in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2) having a deletion of atleast the first 20 N-terminal amino acid residues (i.e., a deletion ofat least Met (1)-Thr (20)) but not more than the first 40 N-terminalamino acid residues of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2). Alternatively, the deletionwill include at least the first 20 N-terminal amino acid residues butnot more than the first 33 N-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 2 (SEQID NO:2). Alternatively, the deletion will include at least the first 23N-terminal amino acid residues but not more than the first 33 N-terminalamino acid residues of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2). Alternatively, the deletionwill include at least the first 28 N-terminal amino acid residues butnot more than the first 33 N-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 2 (SEQID NO:2).

In addition to the ranges of M-CIF N-terminal deletion mutants describedabove, the present invention is also directed to all combinations of theabove described ranges, e.g., deletions of at least the first 20N-terminal amino acid residues but not more than the first 28 N-terminalamino acid residues of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2); deletions of at least thefirst 20 N-terminal amino acid residues but not more than the first 23N-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2); and deletions ofat least the first 28 N-terminal amino acid residues but not more thanthe first 33 N-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2).

In another aspect, M-CIF C-terminal deletion mutants are provided by thepresent invention. Preferably, the N-terminal amino acid residue of saidM-CIF C-terminal deletion mutants is amino acid residue 1 (Met) or 20(Thr) of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2). Such mutants include those comprising anamino acid sequence shown in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2) except for a deletionof at least the last C-terminal amino acid residue (Asn (93)) but notmore than the last 25 C-terminal amino acid residues (e.g., a deletionof amino acid residues Lys (69)-Asn (93)) of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2).Alternatively, the deletion will include at least the last C-terminalamino acid residue but not more than the last 18 C-terminal amino acidresidues of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2). Alternatively, the deletion willinclude at least the last 3 C-terminal amino acid residues but not morethan the last 18 C-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2).Alternatively, the deletion will include at least the last 5 C-terminalamino acid residues but not more than the last 18 C-terminal amino acidresidues of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2). Alternatively, the deletion willinclude at least the last 12 C-terminal amino acid residues but not morethan the last 18 C-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2).Alternatively, the deletion will include at least the last 5 C-terminalamino acid residues but not more than the last 12 C-terminal amino acidresidues of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2).

In yet another aspect, also included by the present invention are M-CIFdeletion mutants having amino acids deleted from both the N-terminal andC-terminal residues. Such mutants include all combinations of theN-terminal deletion mutants and C-terminal deletion mutants describedabove. Such mutants include those comprising an amino acid sequenceshown in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2) having a deletion of at least the first 20N-terminal amino acid residues but not more than the first 33 N-terminalamino acid residues of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2) and a deletion of at leastthe last C-terminal amino acid residue but not more than the last 18C-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2). Alternatively, adeletion can include at least the first 23 or 28 N-terminal amino acidsbut not more than the first 33 N-terminal amino acid residues of FIG. 2(SEQ ID NO:2) and a deletion of at least the last 3, 5, or 12 C-terminalamino acid residues but not more than the last 18 C-terminal amino acidresidues of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2). Further included are all combinationsof the above described ranges.

An M-CIF polypeptide can contain one or several amino acidsubstitutions, deletions or additions, either from natural mutation orhuman manipulation. Examples of some preferred mutations of the aminoacid sequence shown in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2) are:

-   Gly (19) Met-   Thr (20) Ala-   Lys (21) Asn-   Glu (23) Gln-   Ser (24) Ala-   Ser (24) Met-   Ser (25) Ala-   Ser (25) Gly-   Glu (34) Gln-   Lys (43) Ala-   Asp (51) Ala-   Asp (51) Gly-   Asp (51) Ser-   Asp (51) Thr-   Asp (51) Met-   Lys (81) Asn-   Lys (81) Ala-   Lys (88) Asn-   Lys (88) Ala-   Lys (91) Ala-   Pro (32) Glu-   Ser (33) Leu-   Glu (34) Arg

The polypeptides of the present invention are preferably provided in anisolated form, and preferably are substantially purified. Arecombinantly produced version of the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptidecan be substantially purified by the one-step method described in Smithand Johnson, Gene 67:31–40 (1988).

The polypeptides of the present invention include the polypeptideencoded by the deposited cDNA including the leader, the maturepolypeptide encoded by the deposited the cDNA minus the leader (i.e.,the mature protein), the polypeptide of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4), FIG. 2(SEQ ID NO:2) or FIG. 3 (SEQ ID NO:6) including the leader, thepolypeptide of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4), FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2) or FIG. 3 (SEQID NO:6) including the leader but minus the N-terminal methionineresidue, the polypeptide of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4), FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2)or FIG. 3 (SEQ ID NO:6) minus the leader, as well as polypeptides whichhave at least 95% similarity, and still more preferably at least 96%,97%, 98% or 99% similarity to those described above. Furtherpolypeptides of the present invention include polypeptides at least 95%identical, still more preferably at least 96%, 97%, 98% or 99% identicalto the polypeptide encoded by the deposited cDNA, to the polypeptide ofFIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4), FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2) or FIG. 3 (SEQ ID NO:6) andalso include portions of such polypeptides with at least 30 amino acidsand more preferably at least 50 amino acids.

By “% similarity” for two polypeptides is intended a similarity scoreproduced by comparing the amino acid sequences of the two polypeptidesusing the Bestfit program (Wisconsin Sequence Analysis Package, Version8 for Unix, Genetics Computer Group, University Research Park, 575Science Drive, Madison, Wis. 53711) and the default settings fordetermining similarity. Bestfit uses the local homology algorithm ofSmith and Waterman (Advances in Applied Mathematics 2:482–489, 1981) tofind the best segment of similarity between two sequences.

By a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence at least, for example,95% “identical” to a reference amino acid sequence of an MPIF-1, M-CIFor MIP-4 polypeptide is intended that the amino acid sequence of thepolypeptide is identical to the reference sequence except that thepolypeptide sequence may include up to five amino acid alterations pereach 100 amino acids of the reference amino acid of the MPIF-1, M-CIF orMIP-4 polypeptide. In other words, to obtain a polypeptide having anamino acid sequence at least 95% identical to a reference amino acidsequence, up to 5% of the amino acid residues in the reference sequencemay be deleted or substituted with another amino acid, or a number ofamino acids up to 5% of the total amino acid residues in the referencesequence may be inserted into the reference sequence. These alterationsof the reference sequence may occur at the amino or carboxy terminalpositions of the reference amino acid sequence or anywhere between thoseterminal positions, interspersed either individually among residues inthe reference sequence or in one or more contiguous groups within thereference sequence.

As a practical matter, whether any particular polypeptide is at least95%, 96%, 97%, 98% or 99% identical to, for instance, the amino acidsequence shown in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:4), FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:2) or FIG. 3(SEQ ID NO:6) or to the amino acid sequence encoded by deposited cDNAclones can be determined conventionally using known computer programssuch the Bestfit program (Wisconsin Sequence Analysis Package, Version 8for Unix, Genetics Computer Group, University Research Park, 575 ScienceDrive, Madison, Wis. 53711. When using Bestfit or any other sequencealignment program to determine whether a particular sequence is, forinstance, 95% identical to a reference sequence according to the presentinvention, the parameters are set, of course, such that the percentageof identity is calculated over the full length of the reference aminoacid sequence and that gaps in homology of up to 5% of the total numberof amino acid residues in the reference sequence are allowed.

The polypeptide of the present invention could be used as a molecularweight marker on SDS-PAGE gels or on molecular sieve gel filtrationcolumns using methods well known to those of skill in the art.

As described in detail below, the polypeptides of the present inventioncan also be used to raise polyclonal and monoclonal antibodies, whichare useful in assays for detecting MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 proteinexpression as described below or as agonists and antagonists capable ofenhancing or inhibiting MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein function.Further, such polypeptides can be used in the yeast two-hybrid system to“capture” MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein binding proteins which are alsocandidate agonist and antagonist according to the present invention. Theyeast two hybrid system is described in Fields and Song, Nature340:245–246 (1989).

MPIF-1, M-CIF and MIP-4 Epitope-Bearing Polypeptides. In another aspect,the invention provides a peptide or polypeptide comprising anepitope-bearing portion of a polypeptide of the invention. The epitopeof this polypeptide portion is an immunogenic or antigenic epitope of apolypeptide of the invention. An “immunogenic epitope” is defined as apart of a protein that elicits an antibody response when the wholeprotein is the immunogen. These immunogenic epitopes are believed to beconfined to a few loci on the molecule. On the other hand, a region of aprotein molecule to which an antibody can bind is defined as an“antigenic epitope.” The number of immunogenic epitopes of a proteingenerally is less than the number of antigenic epitopes. See, forinstance, Geysen et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 81:3998–4002 (1983).

As to the selection of peptides or polypeptides bearing an antigenicepitope (i.e., that contain a region of a protein molecule to which anantibody can bind), it is well known in that art that relatively shortsynthetic peptides that mimic part of a protein sequence are routinelycapable of eliciting an antiserum that reacts with the partiallymimicked protein. See, e.g., Sutcliffe, J. G., Shinnick, T. M., Green,N. and Learner, R. A., Science 219:660–666 (1983).

Peptides capable of eliciting protein-reactive sera are frequentlyrepresented in the primary sequence of a protein, can be characterizedby a set of simple chemical rules, and are confined neither toimmunodominant regions of intact proteins (i.e., immunogenic epitopes)nor to the amino or carboxyl terminals. Peptides that are extremelyhydrophobic and those of six or fewer residues generally are ineffectiveat inducing antibodies that bind to the mimicked protein; longer,peptides, especially those containing proline residues, usually areeffective. Sutcliffe et al., supra, at 661. For instance, 18 of 20peptides designed according to these guidelines, containing 8–39residues covering 75% of the sequence of the influenza virushemagglutinin HA1 polypeptide chain, induced antibodies that reactedwith the HA1 protein or intact virus; and 12/12 peptides from the MuLVpolymerase and 18/18 from the rabies glycoprotein induced antibodiesthat precipitated the respective proteins.

Antigenic epitope-bearing peptides and polypeptides of the invention aretherefore useful to raise antibodies, including monoclonal antibodies,that bind specifically to a polypeptide of the invention. Thus, a highproportion of hybridomas obtained by fusion of spleen cells from donorsimmunized with an antigen epitope-bearing peptide generally secreteantibody reactive with the native protein. Sutcliffe et al., supra, at663. The antibodies raised by antigenic epitope-bearing peptides orpolypeptides are useful to detect the mimicked protein, and antibodiesto different peptides may be used for tracking the fate of variousregions of a protein precursor which undergoes post-translationalprocessing. The peptides and anti-peptide antibodies may be used in avariety of qualitative or quantitative assays for the mimicked protein,for instance in competition assays since it has been shown that evenshort peptides (e.g. about 9 amino acids) can bind and displace thelarger peptides in immunoprecipitation assays. See, for instance, Wilsonet al., Cell 37:767–778 (1984) at 777. The anti-peptide antibodies ofthe invention also are useful for purification of the mimicked protein,for instance, by adsorption chromatography using methods well known inthe art.

Antigenic epitope-bearing peptides and polypeptides of the inventiondesigned according to the above guidelines preferably contain a sequenceof at least seven, more preferably at least nine and most preferablybetween about 15 to about 30 amino acids contained within the amino acidsequence of a polypeptide of the invention. However, peptides orpolypeptides comprising a larger portion of an amino acid sequence of apolypeptide of the invention, containing about 30 to about 50 aminoacids, or any length up to and including the entire amino acid sequenceof a polypeptide of the invention, also are considered epitope-bearingpeptides or polypeptides of the invention and also are useful forinducing antibodies that react with the mimicked protein. Preferably,the amino acid sequence of the epitope-bearing peptide is selected toprovide substantial solubility in aqueous solvents (i.e., the sequenceincludes relatively hydrophilic residues and highly hydrophobicsequences are preferably avoided); and sequences containing prolineresidues are particularly preferred.

Non-limiting examples of antigenic polypeptides or peptides that can beused to generate MPIF-1-specific antibodies include: a polypeptidecomprising amino acid residues from about 21 to about 30 in SEQ ID NO:4;a polypeptide comprising amino acid residues from about 31 to about 44in SEQ ID NO:4; a polypeptide comprising amino acid residues from about49 to about 55 in SEQ ID NO:4; a polypeptide comprising amino acidresidues from about 59 to about 67 in SEQ ID NO:4; a polypeptidecomprising amino acid residues from about 72 to about 83 in SEQ ID NO:4;a polypeptide comprising amino acid residues from about 86 to about 103in SEQ ID NO:4; a polypeptide comprising amino acid residues from about110 to about 120 in SEQ ID NO:4. As indicated above, the inventors havedetermined that the above polypeptide fragments are antigenic regions ofthe MPIF-1 protein.

Non-limiting examples of antigenic polypeptides or peptides that can beused to generate M-CIF-specific antibodies include: a polypeptidecomprising amino acid residues from about 20 to about 36 in SEQ ID NO:2;a polypeptide comprising amino acid residues from about 42 to about 52in SEQ ID NO:2; a polypeptide comprising amino acid residues from about52 to about 64 in SEQ ID NO:2; a polypeptide comprising amino acidresidues from about 67 to about 75 in SEQ ID NO:2; a polypeptidecomprising amino acid residues from about 75 to about 84 in SEQ ID NO:2;and a polypeptide comprising amino acid residues from about 86 to about93 in SEQ ID NO:2. As indicated above, the inventors have determinedthat the above polypeptide fragments are antigenic regions of the M-CIFprotein.

The epitope-bearing peptides and polypeptides of the invention may beproduced by any conventional means for making peptides or polypeptidesincluding recombinant means using nucleic acid molecules of theinvention. For instance, a short epitope-bearing amino acid sequence maybe fused to a larger polypeptide which acts as a carrier duringrecombinant production and purification, as well as during immunizationto produce anti-peptide antibodies. Epitope-bearing peptides also may besynthesized using known methods of chemical synthesis. For instance,Houghten has described a simple method for synthesis of large numbers ofpeptides, such as 10–20 mg of 248 different 13 residue peptidesrepresenting single amino acid variants of a segment of the HA1polypeptide which were prepared and characterized (by ELISA-type bindingstudies) in less than four weeks. Houghten, R. A. (1985) General methodfor the rapid solid-phase synthesis of large numbers of peptides:specificity of antigen-antibody interaction at the level of individualamino acids. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82:5131–5135. This “SimultaneousMultiple Peptide Synthesis (SMPS)” process is further described in U.S.Pat. No. 4,631,211 to Houghten et al. (1986). In this procedure theindividual resins for the solid-phase synthesis of various peptides arecontained in separate solvent-permeable packets, enabling the optimaluse of the many identical repetitive steps involved in solid-phasemethods. A completely manual procedure allows 500–1000 or more synthesesto be conducted simultaneously. Houghten et al., supra, at 5134.

Preferred nucleic acid fragments of the present invention includenucleic acid molecules encoding epitope-bearing portions of the MPIF-1,M-CIF or MIP-4 protein.

In particular, such nucleic acid fragments of the MPIF-1 of the presentinvention include nucleic acid molecules encoding: a polypeptidecomprising amino acid residues from about 21 to about 30 in SEQ ID NO:4;a polypeptide comprising amino acid residues from about 31 to about 44in SEQ ID NO:4; a polypeptide comprising amino acid residues from about49 to about 55 in SEQ ID NO:4; a polypeptide comprising amino acidresidues from about 59 to about 67 in SEQ ID NO:4; a polypeptidecomprising amino acid residues from about 72 to about 83 in SEQ ID NO:4;a polypeptide comprising amino acid residues from about 86 to about 103in SEQ ID NO:4; a polypeptide comprising amino acid residues from about110 to about 120 in SEQ ID NO:4, or any range or value therein.

In particular, such nucleic acid fragments of the M-CIF of the presentinvention include nucleic acid molecules encoding: a polypeptidecomprising amino acid residues from about 20 to about 36 in SEQ ID NO:2;a polypeptide comprising amino acid residues from about 42 to about 52in SEQ ID NO:2; a polypeptide comprising amino acid residues from about52 to about 64 in SEQ ID NO:2; a polypeptide comprising amino acidresidues from about 67 to about 75 in SEQ ID NO:2; a polypeptidecomprising amino acid residues from about 75 to about 84 in SEQ ID NO:2;and a polypeptide comprising amino acid residues from about 86 to about93 in SEQ ID NO:2, or any range or value therein.

The inventors have determined that the above polypeptide fragments areantigenic regions of the MPIF-1 and M-CIF proteins. Methods fordetermining other such epitope-bearing portions of the MPIF-1, M-CIF orMIP-4 protein are described in detail below.

Epitope-bearing peptides and polypeptides of the invention are used toinduce antibodies according to methods well known in the art. See, forinstance, Sutcliffe et al., supra; Wilson et al., supra; Chow, M. etal., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 82:910–914; and Bittle, F. J. et al., J.Gen. Virol. 66:2347–2354 (1985). Generally, animals may be immunizedwith free peptide; however, anti-peptide antibody titer may be boostedby coupling of the peptide to a macromolecular carrier, such as keyholelimpet hemacyanin (KLH) or tetanus toxoid. For instance, peptidescontaining cysteine may be coupled to carrier using a linker such asm-maleimidobenzoyl-N-hydroxysuccinimide ester (MBS), while otherpeptides may be coupled to carrier using a more general linking agentsuch as glutaraldehyde. Animals such as rabbits, rats and mice areimmunized with either free or carrier-coupled peptides, for instance, byintraperitoneal and/or intradermal injection of emulsions containingabout 100 g peptide or carrier protein and Freund's adjuvant. Severalbooster injections may be needed, for instance, at intervals of abouttwo weeks, to provide a useful titer of anti-peptide antibody which canbe detected, for example, by ELISA assay using free peptide adsorbed toa solid surface. The titer of anti-peptide antibodies in serum from animmunized animal may be increased by selection of anti-peptideantibodies, for instance, by adsorption to the peptide on a solidsupport and elution of the selected antibodies according to methods wellknown in the art.

Immununogenic epitope-bearing peptides of the invention, i.e., thoseparts of a protein that elicit an antibody response when the wholeprotein is the immunogen, are identified according to methods known inthe art. For instance, Geysen et al., supra, discloses a procedure forrapid concurrent synthesis on solid supports of hundreds of peptides ofsufficient purity to react in an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay.Interaction of synthesized peptides with antibodies is then easilydetected without removing them from the support. In this manner apeptide bearing an immunogenic epitope of a desired protein may beidentified routinely by one of ordinary skill in the art. For instance,the immunologically important epitope in the coat protein offoot-and-mouth disease virus was located by Geysen et al. with aresolution of seven amino acids by synthesis of an overlapping set ofall 208 possible hexapeptides covering the entire 213 amino acidsequence of the protein. Then, a complete replacement set of peptides inwhich all 20 amino acids were substituted in turn at every positionwithin the epitope were synthesized, and the particular amino acidsconferring specificity for the reaction with antibody were determined.Thus, peptide analogs of the epitope-bearing peptides of the inventioncan be made routinely by this method. U.S. Pat. No. 4,708,781 to Geysen(1987) further describes this method of identifying a peptide bearing animmunogenic epitope of a desired protein.

Further still, U.S. Pat. No. 5,194,392 to Geysen (1990) describes ageneral method of detecting or determining the sequence of monomers(amino acids or other compounds) which is a topological equivalent ofthe epitope (i.e., a “mimotope”) which is complementary to a particularparatope (antigen binding site) of an antibody of interest. Moregenerally, U.S. Pat. No. 4,433,092 to Geysen (1989) describes a methodof detecting or determining a sequence of monomers which is atopographical equivalent of a ligand which is complementary to theligand binding site of a particular receptor of interest. Similarly,U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,971 to Houghten, R. A. et al. (1996) on PeralkylatedOligopeptide Mixtures discloses linear C₁–C₇-alkyl peralkylatedoligopeptides and sets and libraries of such peptides, as well asmethods for using such oligopeptide sets and libraries for determiningthe sequence of a peralkylated oligopeptide that preferentially binds toan acceptor molecule of interest. Thus, non-peptide analogs of theepitope-bearing peptides of the invention also can be made routinely bythese methods.

The entire disclosure of each document cited in this section on“Polypeptides and Peptides” is hereby incorporated herein by reference.

As one of skill in the art will appreciate, MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4polypeptides of the present invention and the epitope-bearing fragmentsthereof described above can be combined with parts of the constantdomain of immunoglobulins (IgG), resulting in chimeric polypeptides.These fusion proteins facilitate purification and show an increasedhalf-life in vivo. This has been shown, e.g. for chimeric proteinsconsisting of the first two domains of the human CD4-polypeptide andvarious domains of the constant regions of the heavy or light chains ofmammalian immunoglobulins (EPA 394,827; Traunecker et al., Nature331:84–86 (1988)). Fusion proteins that have a disulfide-linked dimericstructure due to the IgG part can also be more efficient in binding andneutralizing other molecules than the monomeric MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4protein or protein fragment alone (Fountoulakis et al., J Biochem270:3958–3964 (1995)).

Polypeptide Purification and Isolation. MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF arerecovered and purified from recombinant cell cultures by methodsincluding ammonium sulfate or ethanol precipitation, acid extraction,anion or cation exchange chromatography, phosphocellulosechromatography, hydrophobic interaction chromatography, affinitychromatography hydroxylapatite chromatography and lectin chromatography.Protein refolding steps can be used, as necessary, in completingconfiguration of the mature protein. Finally, high performance liquidchromatography (HPLC) can be employed for final purification steps.

The polypeptides of the present invention can be a naturally purifiedproduct, or a product of chemical synthetic procedures, or produced byrecombinant techniques from a prokaryotic or eukaryotic host (forexample, by bacterial, yeast, higher plant, insect and mammalian cellsin culture). Depending upon the host employed in a recombinantproduction procedure, the polypeptides of the present invention can beglycosylated with mammalian or other eukaryotic carbohydrates or can benon-glycosylated. Polypeptides of the invention can also include aninitial methionine amino acid residue.

Antibodies. MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4-protein specific antibodies for usein the present invention can be raised against the intact MPIF-1, M-CIFor MIP-4 protein or an antigenic polypeptide fragment thereof, which maypresented together with a carrier protein, such as an albumin, to ananimal system (such as rabbit or mouse) or, if it is long enough (atleast about 25 amino acids), without a carrier.

As used herein, the term “antibody” (Ab) or “monoclonal antibody” (Mab)is meant to include intact molecules as well as antibody fragments (suchas, for example, Fab and F(ab′)₂ fragments) which are capable ofspecifically binding to MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein. Fab and F(ab′)₂fragments lack the Fc fragment of intact antibody, clear more rapidlyfrom the circulation, and may have less non-specific tissue binding ofan intact antibody (Wahl et al., J. Nucl. Med. 24:316–325 (1983)). Thus,these fragments are preferred.

The polypeptides, their fragments or other derivatives, or analogsthereof, or cells expressing them can be used as an immunogen to produceantibodies thereto. These antibodies can be, for example, polyclonal ormonoclonal antibodies. The present invention also includes chimeric,single chain and humanized antibodies, as well as Fab fragments, or theproduct of an Fab expression library. Various procedures known in theart can be used for the production of such antibodies and fragments.

Antibodies generated against the polypeptides corresponding to asequence of the present invention or its in vivo receptor can beobtained by direct injection of the polypeptides into an animal or byadministering the polypeptides to an animal, preferably a nonhuman. Theantibody so obtained will then bind the polypeptides itself. In thismanner, even a sequence encoding only a fragment of the polypeptides canbe used to generate antibodies binding the whole native polypeptides.Such antibodies can then be used to isolate the polypeptides from tissueexpressing that polypeptide.

For preparation of monoclonal antibodies, any technique which providesantibodies produced by continuous cell line cultures can be used.Examples include the hybridoma technique (Kohler and Milstein, 1975,Nature, 256:495–497), the trioma technique, the human B-cell hybridomatechnique (Kozbor et al., 1983, Immunology Today 4:72), and theEBV-hybridoma technique to produce human monoclonal antibodies (Cole, etal., 1985, in Monoclonal Antibodies and Cancer Therapy, Alan R. Liss,Inc., pp. 77–96).

Techniques described for the production of single chain antibodies (U.S.Pat. No. 4,946,778) can be adapted to produce single chain antibodies toimmunogenic polypeptides products of this invention.

The antibodies of the present invention may be prepared by any of avariety of methods. For example, cells expressing the MPIF-1, M-CIF orMIP-4 protein or an antigenic fragment thereof can be administered to ananimal in order to induce the production of sera containing polyclonalantibodies. In a preferred method, a preparation of MPIF-1, M-CIF orMIP-4 protein is prepared and purified to render it substantially freeof natural contaminants. Such a preparation is then introduced into ananimal in order to produce polyclonal antisera of greater specificactivity.

In the most preferred method, the antibodies of the present inventionare monoclonal antibodies (or MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein bindingfragments thereof). Such monoclonal antibodies can be prepared usinghybridoma technology (Kohler et al., Nature 256:495 (1975); Kohler etal., Eur. J. Immunol. 6:511 (1976); Kohler et al., Eur. J. Immunol.6:292 (1976); Hammerling et al., In: Monoclonal Antibodies and T-CellHybridomas, Elsevier, N.Y., (1981) pp. 563–681). In general, suchprocedures involve immunizing an animal (preferably a mouse) with anMPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein antigen or, more preferably, with anMPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein-expressing cell. Suitable cells can berecognized by their capacity to bind anti-MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 proteinantibody. Such cells may be cultured in any suitable tissue culturemedium; however, it is preferable to culture cells in Earle's modifiedEagle's medium supplemented with 10% fetal bovine serum (inactivated atabout 56° C.), and supplemented with about 10 g/l of nonessential aminoacids, about 1,000 U/ml of penicillin, and about 100 g/ml ofstreptomycin. The splenocytes of such mice are extracted and fused witha suitable myeloma cell line. Any suitable myeloma cell line may beemployed in accordance with the present invention; however, it ispreferable to employ the parent myeloma cell line (SP2O), available fromthe American Type Culture Collection, 10801 University Boulevard,Manassas, Va. 20110-2209, USA (present address). After fusion, theresulting hybridoma cells are selectively maintained in HAT medium, andthen cloned by limiting dilution as described by Wands et al.(Gastroenterology 80:225–232 (1981)). The hybridoma cells obtainedthrough such a selection are then assayed to identify clones whichsecrete antibodies capable of binding the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 proteinantigen.

Alternatively, additional antibodies capable of binding to the MPIF-1,M-CIF or MIP-4 protein antigen may be produced in a two-step procedurethrough the use of anti-idiotypic antibodies. Such a method makes use ofthe fact that antibodies are themselves antigens, and that, therefore,it is possible to obtain an antibody which binds to a second antibody.In accordance with this method, MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4-protein specificantibodies are used to immunize an animal, preferably a mouse. Thesplenocytes of such an animal are then used to produce hybridoma cells,and the hybridoma cells are screened to identify clones which produce anantibody whose ability to bind to the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4protein-specific antibody can be blocked by the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4protein antigen. Such antibodies comprise anti-idiotypic antibodies tothe MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein-specific antibody and can be used toimmunize an animal to induce formation of further MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4protein-specific antibodies.

It will be appreciated that Fab and F(ab′)₂ and other fragments of theantibodies of the present invention may be used according to the methodsdisclosed herein. Such fragments are typically produced by proteolyticcleavage, using enzymes such as papain (to produce Fab fragments) orpepsin (to produce F(ab′)₂ fragments). Alternatively, MPIF-1, M-CIF orMIP-4 protein-binding fragments can be produced through the applicationof recombinant DNA technology or through synthetic chemistry.

It may be preferable to use “humanized” chimeric monoclonal antibodies.Such antibodies can be produced using genetic constructs derived fromhybridoma cells producing the monoclonal antibodies described above.Methods for producing chimeric antibodies are known in the art. See, forreview, Morrison, Science 229:1202 (1985); Oi et al., BioTechniques4:214 (1986); Cabilly et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,816,567; Taniguchi et al.,EP 171496; Morrison et al., EP 173494; Neuberger et al., WO 8601533;Robinson et al., WO 8702671; Boulianne et al., Nature 312:643 (1984);Neuberger et al., Nature 314:268 (1985).

Further suitable labels for the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein-specificantibodies of the present invention are provided below. Examples ofsuitable enzyme labels include malate dehydrogenase, staphylococcalnuclease, delta-5-steroid isomerase, yeast-alcohol dehydrogenase,alpha-glycerol phosphate dehydrogenase, triose phosphate isomerase,peroxidase, alkaline phosphatase, asparaginase, glucose oxidase,beta-galactosidase, ribonuclease, urease, catalase, glucose-6-phosphatedehydrogenase, glucoamylase, and acetylcholine esterase.

Examples of suitable radioisotopic labels include ³H, ¹¹¹In, ¹²⁵I, ¹³¹I,³²P, ³⁵S, ¹⁴C, ⁵¹Cr, ⁵⁷To, ⁵⁸Co, ⁵⁹Fe, ⁷⁵Se, ¹⁵²Eu, ⁹⁰Y, ⁶⁷Cu, ²¹⁷Ci,²¹¹At, ²¹²Pb, ⁴⁷Sc, ¹⁰⁹Pd, etc. ¹¹¹In is a preferred isotope where invivo imaging is used since its avoids the problem of dehalogenation ofthe ¹²⁵I or ¹³¹I-labeled monoclonal antibody by the liver. In addition,this radionucleotide has a more favorable gamma emission energy forimaging (Perkins et al., Eur. J. Nucl. Med. 10:296–301 (1985);Carasquillo et al., J. Nucl. Med. 28:281–287 (1987)).

Examples of suitable non-radioactive isotopic labels include ¹⁵⁷Gd,⁵⁵Mn, ¹⁶²Dy, ⁵²Tr, and ⁵⁶Fe.

Examples of suitable fluorescent labels include an ¹⁵²Eu label, afluorescein label, an isothiocyanate label, a rhodamine label, aphycoerythrin label, a phycocyanin label, an allophycocyanin label, ano-phthaldehyde label, and a fluorescamine label.

Examples of suitable toxin labels include diphtheria toxin, ricin, andcholera toxin.

Examples of chemiluminescent labels include a luminal label, anisoluminal label, an aromatic acridinium ester label, an imidazolelabel, an acridinium salt label, an oxalate ester label, a luciferinlabel, a luciferase label, and an aequorin label.

Examples of nuclear magnetic resonance contrasting agents include heavymetal nuclei such as Gd, Mn, and iron.

Typical techniques for binding the above-described labels to antibodiesare provided by Kennedy et al., Clin. Chim. Acta 70:1–31 (1976), andSchurs et al., Clin. Chim. Acta 81:1–40 (1977). Coupling techniquesmentioned in the latter are the glutaraldehyde method, the periodatemethod, the dimaleimide method, them-maleimidobenzyl-N-hydroxy-succinimide ester method, all of whichmethods are incorporated by reference herein.

Chromosome Assays. The nucleic acid molecules of the present inventionare also valuable for chromosome identification. The sequence isspecifically targeted to and can hybridize with a particular location onan individual human chromosome. Moreover, there is a current need foridentifying particular sites on the chromosome. Few chromosome markingreagents based on actual sequence data (repeat polymorphisms) arepresently available for marking chromosomal location. The mapping ofDNAs to chromosomes according to the present invention is an importantfirst step in correlating those sequences with genes associated withdisease.

In certain preferred embodiments in this regard, the cDNA hereindisclosed is used to clone genomic DNA of an MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4protein gene. This can be accomplished using a variety of well knowntechniques and libraries, which generally are available commercially.The genomic DNA then is used for in situ chromosome mapping using wellknown techniques for this purpose. Typically, in accordance with routineprocedures for chromosome mapping, some trial and error may be necessaryto identify a genomic probe that gives a good in situ hybridizationsignal.

Briefly, sequences can be mapped to chromosomes by preparing PCR primers(preferably 15–25 bp) from the cDNA. Computer analysis of the cDNA isused to rapidly select primers that do not span more than one exon inthe genomic DNA, thus complicating the amplification process. Theseprimers are then used for PCR screening of somatic cell hybridscontaining individual human chromosomes. Only those hybrids containingthe human gene corresponding to the primer will yield an amplifiedfragment.

PCR mapping of somatic cell hybrids is a rapid procedure for assigning aparticular DNA to a particular chromosome. Using the present inventionwith the same oligonucleotide primers, sublocalization can be achievedwith panels of portions from specific chromosomes or pools of largegenomic clones in an analogous manner. Other mapping strategies that cansimilarly be used to map to its chromosome include in situhybridization, prescreening with labeled flow-sorted chromosomes andpreselection by hybridization to construct chromosome specific-cDNAlibraries.

Fluorescence in situ hybridization (“FISH”) of a cDNA clone to ametaphase chromosomal spread can be used to provide a precisechromosomal location in one step. This technique can be used with probesfrom the cDNA as short as 50 or 60 bp. For a review of this technique,see Verma et al., Human Chromosomes: A Manual Of Basic Techniques,Pergamon Press, New York (1988).

Once a sequence has been mapped to a precise chromosomal location, thephysical position of the sequence on the chromosome can be correlatedwith genetic map data. Such data are found, for example, in V. McKusick,Mendelian Inheritance In Man, available on-line through Johns HopkinsUniversity, Welch Medical Library. The relationship between genes anddiseases that have been mapped to the same chromosomal region are thenidentified through linkage analysis (coinheritance of physicallyadjacent genes).

Next, it is necessary to determine the differences in the cDNA orgenomic sequence between affected and unaffected individuals. If amutation is observed in some or all of the affected individuals but notin any normal individuals, then the mutation is likely to be thecausative agent of the disease.

With current resolution of physical mapping and genetic mappingtechniques, a cDNA precisely localized to a chromosomal regionassociated with the disease could be one of between 50 and 500 potentialcausative genes. This assumes 1 megabase mapping resolution and one geneper 20 kb.

Comparison of affected and unaffected individuals generally involvesfirst looking for structural alterations in the chromosomes, such asdeletions or translocations that are visible from chromosome spreads ordetectable using PCR based on that cDNA sequence. Ultimately, completesequencing of genes from several individuals is required to confirm thepresence of a mutation and to distinguish mutations from polymorphisms.

The present invention is further directed to inhibiting MPIF-1, MIP-4and M-CIF in vivo by the use of antisense technology. Antisensetechnology can be used to control gene expression through triple-helixformation or antisense DNA or RNA, both of which methods are based onbinding of a polynucleotide to DNA or RNA. For example, the 5′ codingportion of the polynucleotide sequence, which encodes for thepolypeptides of the present invention, is used to design an antisenseRNA oligonucleotide of from about 10 to 40 base pairs in length. A DNAoligonucleotide is designed to be complementary to a region of the geneinvolved in transcription (triple helix—see Lee et al., Nucl. AcidsRes., 6:3073 (1979); Cooney et al, Science, 241:456 (1988); and Dervanet al., Science, 251: 1360 (1991)), thereby preventing transcription andthe production of MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF. The antisense RNAoligonucleotide hybridizes to the mRNA in vivo and blocks translation ofthe mRNA molecule into the MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF (antisense—Okano, J.Neurochem., 56:560 (1991); Oligodeoxynucleotides as Antisense Inhibitorsof Gene Expression, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla. (1988)).

Alternatively, the oligonucleotides described above can be delivered tocells by procedures in the art such that the antisense RNA or DNA can beexpressed in vivo to inhibit production of MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF inthe manner described above.

Accordingly, antisense constructs to the MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF can beused to treat disorders which are either MPIF-1-, MIP-4- and/orM-CIF-induced or enhanced, for example, atherosclerosis, auto-immune,e.g. multiple sclerosis and insulin-dependent diabetes, and chronicinflammatory and infective diseases, histamine-mediated allergicreactions, rheumatoid arthritis, silicosis, sarcoidosis, idiopathicpulmonary fibrosis and other chronic inflammatory diseases of the lung,idiopathic hyper-eosinophilic syndrome, endotoxic shock,histamine-mediated allergic reactions, prostaglandin-independent fever,and aplastic anemia and other cases of bone marrow failure.

Antagonists, Agonists and Methods. This invention further providesmethods for screening compounds to identify agonists and antagonists tothe chemokine polypeptides of the present invention. An agonist is acompound which has similar biological functions, or enhances thefunctions, of the polypeptides, while antagonists block such functions.Chemotaxis may be assayed by placing cells, which are chemoattracted byeither of the polypeptides of the present invention, on top of a filterwith pores of sufficient diameter to admit the cells (about 5 μm).Solutions of potential agonists are placed in the bottom of the chamberwith an appropriate control medium in the upper compartment, and thus aconcentration gradient of the agonist is measured by counting cells thatmigrate into or through the porous membrane over time.

When assaying for antagonists, the chemokine polypeptides of the presentinvention are placed in the bottom chamber and the potential antagonistis added to determine if chemotaxis of the cells is prevented.

Alternatively, a mammalian cell or membrane preparation expressing thereceptors of the polypeptides would be incubated with a labeledchemokine polypeptide, e.g. radioactivity, in the presence of thecompound. The ability of the compound to block this interaction couldthen be measured. When assaying for agonists in this fashion, thechemokines would be absent and the ability of the agonist itself tointeract with the receptor could be measured.

Examples of potential MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF antagonists includeantibodies, or in some cases, oligonucleotides, which bind to thepolypeptides. Another example of a potential antagonist is a negativedominant mutant of the polypeptides. Negative dominant mutants arepolypeptides which bind to the receptor of the wild-type polypeptide,but fail to retain biological activity.

Antisense constructs prepared using antisense technology are alsopotential antagonists. Antisense technology can be used to control geneexpression through triple-helix formation or antisense DNA or RNA, bothof which methods are based on binding of a polynucleotide to DNA or RNA.For example, the 5′ coding portion of the polynucleotide sequence, whichencodes for the mature polypeptides of the present invention, is used todesign an antisense RNA oligonucleotide of from about 10 to 40 basepairs in length. A DNA oligonucleotide is designed to be complementaryto a region of the gene involved in transcription (triple-helix, see Leeet al., Nucl. Acids Res. 6:3073 (1979); Cooney et al, Science 241:456(1988); and Dervan et al., Science 251:1360 (1991)), thereby preventingtranscription and the production of the chemokine polypeptides. Theantisense RNA oligonucleotide hybridizes to the mRNA in vivo and blockstranslation of the mRNA molecule into the polypeptides (antisense—Okano,J. Neurochem. 56:560 (1991); oligodeoxynucleotides as AntisenseInhibitors of Gene Expression, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla. (1988)). Theoligonucleotides described above can also be delivered to cells suchthat the antisense RNA or DNA may be expressed in vivo to inhibitproduction of the chemokine polypeptides.

Another potential chemokine antagonist is a peptide derivative of thepolypeptides which are naturally or synthetically modified analogs ofthe polypeptides that have lost biological function yet still recognizeand bind to the receptors of the polypeptides to thereby effectivelyblock the receptors. Examples of peptide derivatives include, but arenot limited to, small peptides or peptide-like molecules.

The antagonists may be employed to treat disorders which are eitherMPIF-1-, MIP-4- and M-CIF-induced or enhanced, for example, auto-immuneand chronic inflammatory and infective diseases. Examples of auto-immunediseases include multiple sclerosis, and insulin-dependent diabetes.

The antagonists may also be employed to treat infectious diseasesincluding silicosis, sarcoidosis, idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis bypreventing the recruitment and activation of mononuclear phagocytes.They may also be employed to treat idiopathic hyper-eosinophilicsyndrome by preventing eosinophil production and migration. Endotoxicshock may also be treated by the antagonists by preventing the migrationof macrophages and their production of the chemokine polypeptides of thepresent invention.

The antagonists may also be employed for treating atherosclerosis, bypreventing monocyte infiltration in the artery wall.

The antagonists may also be employed to treat histamine mediatedallergic reactions and immunological disorders including late phaseallergic reactions, chronic urticaria, and atopic dermatitis byinhibiting chemokine-induced mast cell and basophil degranulation andrelease of histamine. IgE-mediated allergic reactions such as allergicasthma, rhinitis, and eczema may also be treated.

The antagonists may also be employed to treat chronic and acuteinflammation by preventing the attraction of monocytes to a wound area.They may also be employed to regulate normal pulmonary macrophagepopulations, since chronic and acute inflammatory pulmonary diseases areassociated with sequestration of mononuclear phagocytes in the lung.

Antagonists may also be employed to treat rheumatoid arthritis bypreventing the attraction of monocytes into synovial fluid in the jointsof patients. Monocyte influx and activation plays a significant role inthe pathogenesis of both degenerative and inflammatory arthropathies.

The antagonists may be employed to interfere with the deleteriouscascades attributed primarily to IL-1 and TNF, which prevents thebiosynthesis of other inflammatory cytokines. In this way, theantagonists may be employed to prevent inflammation. The antagonists mayalso be employed to inhibit prostaglandin-independent fever induced bychemokines.

The antagonists may also be employed to treat cases of bone marrowfailure, for example, aplastic anemia and myelodysplastic syndrome.

The antagonists may also be employed to treat asthma and allergy bypreventing eosinophil accumulation in the lung. The antagonists may alsobe employed to treat subepithelial basement membrane fibrosis which is aprominent feature of the asthmatic lung.

Agonists. M-CIF, MPIF-1 and/or MIP-4 agonists include any small moleculethat has an activity similar to any one or more of these polypeptides,as described herein. For example, MPIF-1 agonists can be used to enhanceMPIF-1 activity. For example, to enhance MPIF-1 induced myeloprotectionin patients undergoing chemotherapy or bone marrow transplantation. Asanother example, M-CIF agonists can provide one or more ofantiinflammatory activity, anti-TNFα activity, and the like, asdescribed herein for various functional activities of M-CIF.

Disease Diagnosis and Prognosis. Certain diseases or disorders, asdiscussed below, may be associated with enhanced levels of the MPIF-1,M-CIF or MIP-4 protein and mRNA encoding the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4protein when compared to a corresponding “standard” mammal, i.e., amammal of the same species not having the disease or disorder. Further,it is believed that enhanced levels of the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4protein can be detected in certain body fluids (e.g. sera, plasma,urine, and spinal fluid) from mammals with a disease or disorder whencompared to sera from mammals of the same species not having the diseaseor disorder. Thus, the invention provides a diagnostic method, whichinvolves assaying the expression level of the gene encoding the MPIF-1,M-CIF or MIP-4 protein in mammalian cells or body fluid and comparingthe gene expression level with a standard MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 geneexpression level, whereby an increase in the gene expression level overthe standard is indicative of certain diseases or disorders.

Where a disease or disorder diagnosis has already been made according toconventional methods, the present invention is useful as a prognosticindicator, whereby patients exhibiting enhanced MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4gene expression will experience a worse clinical outcome relative topatients expressing the gene at a lower level.

By “assaying the expression level of the gene encoding the MPIF-1, M-CIFor MIP-4 protein” is intended qualitatively or quantitatively measuringor estimating the level of the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein or thelevel of the mRNA encoding the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein in a firstbiological sample either directly (e.g. by determining or estimatingabsolute protein level or mRNA level) or relatively (e.g. by comparingto the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein level or mRNA level in a secondbiological sample).

Preferably, the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein level or mRNA level inthe first biological sample is measured or estimated and compared to astandard MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein level or mRNA level, thestandard being taken from a second biological sample obtained from anindividual not having the disease or disorder. As will be appreciated inthe art, once a standard MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein level or mRNAlevel is known, it can be used repeatedly as a standard for comparison.

By “biological sample” is intended any biological sample obtained froman individual, cell line, tissue culture, or other source which containsMPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein or mRNA. Biological samples includemammalian body fluids (such as sera, plasma, urine, synovial fluid andspinal fluid) which contain secreted mature MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4protein, and ovarian, prostate, heart, placenta, pancreas, ascites,muscle, skin, glandular, kidney, liver, spleen, lung, bone, bone marrow,ocular, peripheral nervous, central nervous, breast and umbilicaltissue. Methods for obtaining tissue biopsies and body fluids frommammals are well known in the art. Where the biological sample is toinclude mRNA, a tissue biopsy is the preferred source.

The present invention is useful for detecting disease in mammals. Inparticular the invention is useful during useful for diagnosis ortreatment of various immune system-related disorders in mammals,preferably humans. Such disorders include tumors, cancers, and anydisregulation of immune cell function including, but not limited to,autoimmunity, arthritis, leukemias, lymphomas, immunosuppression,sepsis, wound healing, acute and chronic infection, cell mediatedimmunity, humoral immunity, inflammatory bowel disease,myelosuppression, and the like. Preferred mammals include monkeys, apes,cats, dogs, cows, pigs, horses, rabbits and humans. Particularlypreferred are humans.

Total cellular RNA can be isolated from a biological sample using anysuitable technique such as the single-stepguanidinium-thiocyanate-phenol-chloroform method described inChomczynski and Sacchi, Anal. Biochem. 162:156–159 (1987). Levels ofmRNA encoding the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein are then assayed usingany appropriate method. These include Northern blot analysis, S1nuclease mapping, the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), reversetranscription in combination with the polymerase chain reaction(RT-PCR), and reverse transcription in combination with the ligase chainreaction (RT-LCR).

Northern blot analysis can be performed as described in Harada et al.,Cell 63:303–312 (1990). Briefly, total RNA is prepared from a biologicalsample as described above. For the Northern blot, the RNA is denaturedin an appropriate buffer (such as glyoxal/dimethyl sulfoxide/sodiumphosphate buffer), subjected to agarose gel electrophoresis, andtransferred onto a nitrocellulose filter. After the RNAs have beenlinked to the filter by a UV linker, the filter is prehybridized in asolution containing formamide, SSC, Denhardt's solution, denaturedsalmon sperm, SDS, and sodium phosphate buffer. MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4protein cDNA labeled according to any appropriate method (such as the³²P-multiprimed DNA labeling system (Amersham)) is used as probe. Afterhybridization overnight, the filter is washed and exposed to x-ray film.cDNA for use as probe according to the present invention is described inthe sections above and will preferably at least 15 bp in length.

S1 mapping can be performed as described in Fujita et al., Cell49:357–367 (1987). To prepare probe DNA for use in S1 mapping, the sensestrand of above-described cDNA is used as a template to synthesizelabeled antisense DNA. The antisense DNA can then be digested using anappropriate restriction endonuclease to generate further DNA probes of adesired length. Such antisense probes are useful for visualizingprotected bands corresponding to the target mRNA (i.e., mRNA encodingthe MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein). Northern blot analysis can beperformed as described above.

Preferably, levels of mRNA encoding the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 proteinare assayed using the RT-PCR method described in Makino et al.,Technique 2:295–301 (1990). By this method, the radioactivities of the“amplicons” in the polyacrylamide gel bands are linearly related to theinitial concentration of the target mRNA. Briefly, this method involvesadding total RNA isolated from a biological sample in a reaction mixturecontaining a RT primer and appropriate buffer. After incubating forprimer annealing, the mixture can be supplemented with a RT buffer,dNTPs, DTT, RNase inhibitor and reverse transcriptase. After incubationto achieve reverse transcription of the RNA, the RT products are thensubject to PCR using labeled primers. Alternatively, rather thanlabeling the primers, a labeled dNTP can be included in the PCR reactionmixture. PCR amplification can be performed in a DNA thermal cycleraccording to conventional techniques. After a suitable number of roundsto achieve amplification, the PCR reaction mixture is electrophoresed ona polyacrylamide gel. After drying the gel, the radioactivity of theappropriate bands (corresponding to the mRNA encoding the MPIF-1, M-CIFor MIP-4 protein)) is quantified using an imaging analyzer. RT and PCRreaction ingredients and conditions, reagent and gel concentrations, andlabeling methods are well known in the art. Variations on the RT-PCRmethod will be apparent to the skilled artisan.

Any set of oligonucleotide primers which will amplify reversetranscribed target mRNA can be used and can be designed as described inthe sections above.

Assaying MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein levels in a biological samplecan occur using any art-known method. Preferred for assaying MPIF-1,M-CIF or MIP-4 protein levels in a biological sample are antibody-basedtechniques. For example, MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein expression intissues can be studied with classical immunohistological methods. Inthese, the specific recognition is provided by the primary antibody(polyclonal or monoclonal) but the secondary detection system canutilize fluorescent, enzyme, or other conjugated secondary antibodies.As a result, an immunohistological staining of tissue section forpathological examination is obtained. Tissues can also be extracted,e.g. with urea and neutral detergent, for the liberation of MPIF-1,M-CIF or MIP-4 protein for Western-blot or dot/slot assay (Jalkanen, M.,et al., J. Cell. Biol. 101:976–985 (1985); Jalkanen, M., et al., J.Cell. Biol. 105:3087–3096 (1987)). In this technique, which is based onthe use of cationic solid phases, quantitation of MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4protein can be accomplished using isolated MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4protein as a standard. This technique can also be applied to bodyfluids. With these samples, a molar concentration of MPIF-1, M-CIF orMIP-4 protein will aid to set standard values of MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4protein content for different body fluids, like serum, plasma, urine,spinal fluid, etc. The normal appearance of MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4protein amounts can then be set using values from healthy individuals,which can be compared to those obtained from a test subject.

Other antibody-based methods useful for detecting MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4protein gene expression include immunoassays, such as the enzyme linkedimmunosorbent assay (ELISA) and the radioimmunoassay (RIA). For example,an MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein-specific monoclonal antibodies can beused both as an immunoabsorbent and as an enzyme-labeled probe to detectand quantify the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 protein. The amount of MPIF-1,M-CIF or MIP-4 protein present in the sample can be calculated byreference to the amount present in a standard preparation using a linearregression computer algorithm. In another ELISA assay, two distinctspecific monoclonal antibodies can be used to detect MPIF-1, M-CIF orMIP-4 protein in a body fluid. In this assay, one of the antibodies isused as the immunoabsorbent and the other as the enzyme-labeled probe.

The above techniques may be conducted essentially as a “one-step” or“two-step” assay. The “one-step” assay involves contacting MPIF-1, M-CIFor MIP-4 protein with immobilized antibody and, without washing,contacting the mixture with the labeled antibody. The “two-step” assayinvolves washing before contacting the mixture with the labeledantibody. Other conventional methods may also be employed as suitable.It is usually desirable to immobilize one component of the assay systemon a support, thereby allowing other components of the system to bebrought into contact with the component and readily removed from thesample.

Suitable enzyme labels include, for example, those from the oxidasegroup, which catalyze the production of hydrogen peroxide by reactingwith substrate. Glucose oxidase is particularly preferred as it has goodstability and its substrate (glucose) is readily available. Activity ofan oxidase label may be assayed by measuring the concentration ofhydrogen peroxide formed by the enzyme-labeled antibody/substratereaction. Besides enzymes, other suitable labels include radioisotopes,such as iodine (¹²⁵I, ¹²¹I), carbon (¹⁴C), sulphur (³⁵S), tritium (³H),indium (¹¹²In), and technetium (^(99m)Tc), and fluorescent labels, suchas fluorescein and rhodamine, and biotin.

The polypeptides of the present invention, and polynucleotides encodingsuch polypeptides, may be employed as research reagents for in vitropurposes related to scientific research, synthesis of DNA andmanufacture of DNA vectors, and for the purpose of developingtherapeutics and diagnostics for the treatment of human disease. Forexample, M-CIF and MPIF-1 may be employed for the expansion of immaturehematopoietic progenitor cells, for example, granulocytes, macrophagesor monocytes, by temporarily preventing their differentiation. Thesebone marrow cells may be cultured in vitro.

Fragments of the full length MPIF-1, MIP-4 or M-CIF genes may be used asa hybridization probe for a cDNA library to isolate the full length geneand to isolate other genes which have a high sequence similarity to thegene or similar biological activity. Preferably, however, the probeshave at least 30 bases and may contain, for example, 50 or more bases.The probe may also be used to identify a cDNA clone corresponding to afull length transcript and a genomic clone or clones that contain thecomplete genes including regulatory and promoter regions, exons, andintrons. An example of a screen comprises isolating the coding region ofthe genes by using the known DNA sequence to synthesize anoligonucleotide probe. Labeled oligonucleotides having a sequencecomplementary to that of the genes of the present invention are used toscreen a library of human cDNA, genomic DNA or mRNA to determine whichmembers of the library the probe hybridizes to.

This invention is also related to the use of the MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIFgene as part of a diagnostic assay for detecting diseases orsusceptibility to diseases related to the presence of mutations in thenucleic acid sequences. Such diseases are related to under-expression ofthe chemokine polypeptides.

Individuals carrying mutations in the MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF may bedetected at the DNA level by a variety of techniques. Nucleic acids fordiagnosis may be obtained from a patient's cells, such as from blood,urine, saliva, tissue biopsy and autopsy material. The genomic DNA maybe used directly for detection or may be amplified enzymatically byusing PCR (Saiki et al., Nature 324:163–166 (1986)) prior to analysis.RNA or cDNA may also be used for the same purpose. As an example, PCRprimers complementary to the nucleic acid encoding MPIF-1, MIP-4 andM-CIF can be used to identify and analyze MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIFmutations. For example, deletions and insertions can be detected by achange in size of the amplified product in comparison to the normalgenotype. Point mutations can be identified by hybridizing amplified DNAto radiolabeled MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF RNA or alternatively,radiolabeled MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF antisense DNA sequences. Perfectlymatched sequences can be distinguished from mismatched duplexes by RNaseA digestion or by differences in melting temperatures.

Genetic testing based on DNA sequence differences may be achieved bydetection of alteration in electrophoretic mobility of DNA fragments ingels with or without denaturing agents. Small sequence deletions andinsertions can be visualized by high resolution gel electrophoresis. DNAfragments of different sequences may be distinguished on denaturingformamide gradient gels in which the mobilities of different DNAfragments are retarded in the gel at different positions according totheir specific melting or partial melting temperatures (see, e.g. Myerset al., Science 230:1242 (1985)).

Sequence changes at specific locations may also be revealed by nucleaseprotection assays, such as RNase and S1 protection or the chemicalcleavage method (e.g. Cotton et al., PNAS, USA 85:4397–4401 (1985)).

Thus, the detection of a specific DNA sequence may be achieved bymethods such as hybridization, RNase protection, chemical cleavage,direct DNA sequencing or the use of restriction enzymes, (e.g.Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms (RFLP)) and Southern blottingof genomic DNA.

In addition to more conventional gel-electrophoresis and DNA sequencing,mutations can also be detected by in situ analysis.

The present invention also relates to a diagnostic assay for detectingaltered levels of MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF protein in various tissuessince an over-expression of the proteins compared to normal controltissue samples may detect the presence of a disease or susceptibility toa disease, for example, a tumor. Assays used to detect levels of MPIF-1,MIP-4 and M-CIF protein in a sample derived from a host are well-knownto those of skill in the art and include radioimmunoassays,competitive-binding assays, Western Blot analysis, ELISA assays and“sandwich” assay. An ELISA assay (Coligan, et al., Current Protocols inImmunology 1(2), Chapter 6, (1991)) initially comprises preparing anantibody specific to the MPIF-1 MIP-4 and M-CIF antigens, preferably amonoclonal antibody. In addition a reporter antibody is prepared againstthe monoclonal antibody. To the reporter antibody is attached adetectable reagent such as radioactivity, fluorescence or, in thisexample, a horseradish peroxidase enzyme. A sample is removed from ahost and incubated on a solid support, e.g. a polystyrene dish, thatbinds the proteins in the sample. Any free protein binding sites on thedish are then covered by incubating with a non-specific protein likeBSA. Next, the monoclonal antibody is incubated in the dish during whichtime the monoclonal antibodies attach to any MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIFproteins attached to the polystyrene dish. All unbound monoclonalantibody is washed out with buffer. The reporter antibody linked tohorseradish peroxidase is now placed in the dish resulting in binding ofthe reporter antibody to any monoclonal antibody bound to MPIF-1, MIP-4and M-CIF. Unattached reporter antibody is then washed out. Peroxidasesubstrates are then added to the dish and the amount of color developedin a given time period is a measurement of the amount of MPIF-1, MIP-4and M-CIF protein present in a given volume of patient sample whencompared against a standard curve.

A competition assay may be employed wherein antibodies specific toMPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF are attached to a solid support and labeledMPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF and a sample derived from the host are passedover the solid support and the amount of label detected, for example byliquid scintillation chromatography, can be correlated to a quantity ofprotein in the sample.

A “sandwich” assay is similar to an ELISA assay. In a “sandwich” assayMPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF is passed over a solid support and binds toantibody attached to a solid support. A second antibody is then bound tothe MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF. A third antibody which is labeled andspecific to the second antibody is then passed over the solid supportand binds to the second antibody and an amount can then be quantified.

This invention provides a method for identification of the receptors forthe chemokine polypeptides. The gene encoding the receptor can beidentified by numerous methods known to those of skill in the art, forexample, ligand panning and FACS sorting (Coligan, et al., CurrentProtocols in Immun. 1(2), Chapter 5, (1991)). Preferably, expressioncloning is employed wherein polyadenylated RNA is prepared from a cellresponsive to the polypeptides, and a cDNA library created from this RNAis divided into pools and used to transfect COS cells or other cellsthat are not responsive to the polypeptides. Transfected cells which aregrown on glass slides are exposed to the labeled polypeptides. Thepolypeptides can be labeled by a variety of means including iodinationor inclusion of a recognition site for a site-specific protein kinase.Following fixation and incubation, the slides are subjected toautoradiographic analysis. Positive pools are identified and sub-poolsare prepared and retransfected using an iterative sub-pooling andrescreening process, eventually yielding a single clones that encodesthe putative receptor.

As an alternative approach for receptor identification, the labeledpolypeptides can be photoaffinity linked with cell membrane or extractpreparations that express the receptor molecule. Cross-linked materialis resolved by PAGE analysis and exposed to X-ray film. The labeledcomplex containing the receptors of the polypeptides can be excised,resolved into peptide fragments, and subjected to proteinmicrosequencing. The amino acid sequence obtained from microsequencingwould be used to design a set of degenerate oligonucleotide probes toscreen a cDNA library to identify the genes encoding the putativereceptors.

Therapeutics. Polypeptides of the present invention can be used in avariety of immunoregulatory and inflammatory functions and also in anumber of disease conditions. MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF are in thechemokine family and therefore they are a chemo-attractant forleukocytes (such as monocytes, neutrophils, T lymphocytes, eosinophils,basophils, etc.).

Northern Blot analyses show that MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF are expressedpredominantly is tissues of hemopoietic origin.

MPIF-1 Therapeutic/Diagnostic Applications. MPIF-1 is shown to play animportant role in the regulation of the immune response andinflammation. In FIG. 19, it is shown that lipopolysaccharide inducesthe expression of MPIF-1 from human monocytes. Accordingly, in responseto the presence of an endotoxin, MPIF-1 is expressed from monocytes and,therefore, administration of MPIF-1 may be employed to regulate theimmune response of a host. MPIF-1 could be used as an anti-inflammatoryagent.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, the chemoattractant activity of MPIF-1 onTHP-1 cells (A) and PBMCs (B) is significant. MPIF-1 also inducessignificant calcium mobilization in THP-1 cells (FIG. 11) showing thatMPIF-1 has a biological effect on monocytes. Further, MPIF-1 produces adose dependent chemotactic and calcium mobilization response in humanmonocytes.

Further, the polypeptides of the present invention can be useful inanti-tumor therapy since there is evidence that chemokine expressingcells injected into tumors have caused regression of the tumor, forexample, in the treatment of Kaposi's sarcoma. MPIF-1 may induce cellsto secrete TNF-α, which is a known agent for regressing tumors, in whichcase this protein could be used to induce tumor regression. MPIF-1 mayalso induce human monocytes to secrete other tumor and cancer inhibitingagents such as IL-6, IL-1 and G-CSF. Also, MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIFstimulate the invasion and activation of host defense (tumoricidal)cells, e.g., cytotoxic T-cells and macrophages via their chemotacticactivity, and in this way can also be used to treat solid tumors.

The polypeptides can also be employed to inhibit the proliferation anddifferentiation of hematopoietic cells and therefore may be employed toprotect bone marrow stem cells from chemotherapeutic agents duringchemotherapy. FIGS. 12 and 13 illustrate that MPIF-1 inhibits colonyformation by low proliferative potential colony forming cells (LPP-CFC).FIG. 14 illustrates that M-CIF specifically inhibits M-CSF-stimulatedcolony formation, while MPIF-1 does not. Since, both MPIF-1 and M-CIFsignificantly inhibit growth and/or differentiation of bone marrowcells, this antiproliferative effect may allow administration of higherdoses of chemotherapeutic agents and, therefore, more effectivechemotherapeutic treatment.

The inhibitory effect of the M-CIF and MPIF-1 polypeptides on thesubpopulation of committed progenitor cells, (for example granulocyte,and macrophage/monocyte cells) may be employed therapeutically toinhibit proliferation of leukemic cells.

Further, the inventors have found that MPIF-1, and variants thereof(e.g., MPIF-1Δ23), inhibit in vitro proliferation and differentiation ofhuman myeloid and granulocyte precursors. Similarly, animal studies haveshown that MPIF-1Δ23, for example, specifically inhibits the developmentof low proliferative potential-colony forming cells (LPP-CFCs) andgranulocyte/monocyte committed progenitors both in vitro and in vivo.These findings indicate that MPIF-1 has therapeutic application as achemoprotective agent that may spare early myeloid progenitors from thecytotoxic effects of commonly used chemotherapeutic drugs.

Because MPIF-1, and variants thereof, has the ability to selectivelyinhibit myeloid progenitor cells, MPIF-1 can be used to treatmyeloproliferative disorders such as essential thrombocytosis (ET),polycythemia vera (PV), or agnogenic myeloid metaplasia (AMM), which areclinically closely related. Each disorder results from an acquiredmutation of a single hematopoietic stem cell that gives the progeny ofthat stem cell a growth advantage. The pathophysiology of thesedisorders is distinct in that there is an overproduction of differentcell types. In PV, there is an overproduction of erythrocytes,granulocytes, and megakaryocyte. In ET, there is, by definition,overproduction of platelets as well as leukocytes. AMM also showsthrombocytosis or leukocytosis in addition to bone marrow fibrosis.

Stabilization of PV patients can be addressed by removal of red cells byphlebotomy. However, there is no comparable therapy for elevatedplatelet levels in ET patients. Several myelosuppressive therapies havebeen studied for lowering the risk of thrombocytosis. Treatment withradioactive phosphorus, hydroxyurea, alkylating agents (busulfan andchlorambucil), interferons, or anagrelide have all shown significantside effects. In particular, there is an increased risk of acuteleukemia with each myelosuppressive therapy except anagrelide.Anagrelide is a promising therapy. However, adverse reactions toanagrelide are a concern and its chronic toxicity potential has not beenestablished. Interferons are, at present, considered second-line therapybecause of expense, side effects, and the inconvenience of parenteraladministration. These findings indicate that there is still asubstantial need for therapy in these diseases.

In vivo studies in mice pretreated with MPIF-1Δ23 and then treated with5-FU demonstrate an inhibition of platelet progenitor cellproliferation.

The present invention further encompasses the use of MPIF-1, andvariants thereof, in combination with other myelosuppressive therapiesand agents.

In FIGS. 15, 16 and 17 the committed cells of the cell lineages utilizedwere removed and the resulting population of cells were contacted withM-CIF and MPIF-1 causes a decrease in the Mac-1 positive population ofcells by nearly 50%, which is consistent with the results of FIG. 14which shows M-CIF induces inhibition of M-CSF responsive colony-formingcells. MPIF-1, as shown in FIG. 17, inhibits the ability of committedprogenitor cells to form colonies in response to IL-3, GM-CSF and M-CSF.Further, as shown in FIG. 18, a dose response of MPIF-1 is shown toinhibit colony formation. This inhibition could be due to a specificblockage of the differentiative signal mediated by these factors or to acytotoxic effect on the progenitor cells. In addition, Examples 15 and16 demonstrate that MPIF-1 has in vitro and in vivo myeloprotectionactivity against cytotoxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs. Thus, MPIF-1can be useful as a myeloprotectant for patients undergoing chemotherapy.

As noted above, one major complication resulting from chemotherapy andradiation therapy is the destruction of non-pathological cell-types. Thepresent invention provides methods for myeloprotection from radiationand chemotherapeutic agents by suppressing myeloid cell proliferation inan individual. These methods involve administering a myelosuppressiveamount of MPIF-1 either alone or together with one or more chemokinesselected from the group consisting of Macrophage Inflammatory Protein-1α(MIP-1α), Macrophage Inflammatory Protein-2α (MIP-2α), Platelet Factor 4(PF4), Interleukin-8 (IL-8), Macrophage Chemotactic and ActivatingFactor (MCAF), and Macrophage Inflammatory Protein-Related Protein-2(MRP-2) to an individual as part of a radiation treatment orchemotherapeutic regimen. The myelosuppressive compositions of thepresent invention thus provide myeloprotective effects and are useful inconjunction with therapies that have an adverse affect on myeloid cells.This is because the myelosuppressive compositions of the presentinvention place myeloid cells in a slow-cycling state thereby providingprotection against cell damage caused by, for example, radiation therapyor chemotherapy using cell-cycle active drugs, such as cytosinearabinoside, hydroxyurea, 5-Fu and Ara-C. Once the chemotherapeutic drughas cleared the individual's system, it would be desirable to stimulaterapid amplification and differentiation of progenitor cells that wereprotected by MPIF-1 using, for example, myelostimulators, such asInterleukin-11 (IL-11), erythropoietin (EPO), GM-CSF, G-CSF, stem cellfactor (SCF), and thrombopoietin (Tpo).

The ability of MPIF-1 to confer in vivo myeloprotection in the presenceof a chemotherapeutic agent is demonstrated in Example 28. Example 28shows that the administration of MPIF-1 to an individual prior to theadministration of a chemotherapeutic agent accelerates the recovery ofplatelets in the blood even after multiple cycles of 5-Fu treatment. Theexperiments set forth in Example 28 also demonstrate that MPIF-1treatment during multiple cycles of 5-Fu treatment results in the fasterrecovery of granulocytes. In addition, the results of Experiment 28 alsosuggest that MPIF-1 and G-CSF exert additive effects whenco-administered.

As indicated, the inventors have found that MPIF-1, and variantsthereof, exhibit potent in vitro suppression of low proliferationpotential-colony forming cells (LPP-CFCs) from bone marrow. LPP-CFCs arebipotential hematopoietic progenitors that give rise to granulocyte andmonocyte lineages. MPIF-1 also reversibly inhibits colony formation byhuman CD34⁺ stem cell derived granulocyte and monocyte colony formingcells. The inventors' in vitro chemoprotection experiments have shownprotection of these hematopoietic progenitors by MPIF-1Δ23 from thecytotoxic effects of the drugs 5-fluorouracil (5-Fu), cytosinearabinoside, and Taxol®.

The use of a MPIF-1 variant (Δ23) in an in vivo chemotherapeutic modelhas shown that it produces a more rapid recovery of both bone marrowprogenitor cells and peripheral cell populations of neutrophils andplatelets. Further, as shown in Examples 16 and 28, the administrationof MPIF-1 results in the accelerated recovery from neutropenia andthrombocytopenia in experimental animals treated with 5-Fu. Thus,MPIF-1, and variants thereof, shorten the period of bone marrow aplasia,granulopenia, and thrombocytopenia associated with the chemotherapeuticagents and thereby reducing the likelihood of infection in patientsundergoing treatment with such agents.

Thus, the invention relates to methods for protecting myeloid progenitorcells and to accelerating recovery of platelets and granulocytes whichcomprise the administration of MPIF-1 to an individual undergoingtherapy which preferentially kills dividing cells (e.g., radiationtherapy or treatment with a cell-cycle active drug). MPIF-1 isadministered in sufficient quantity to provide in vivo myeloprotectionagainst treatments and agents which preferentially kill dividing cells.By “MPIF-1 is administered” is meant that MPIF-1, an analog of MPIF-1,or combination thereof is administered in a therapeutically effectiveamount. Modes of administration of MPIF-1 are discussed in detail below.

MPIF-1 may be administered prior to, after, or during the therapy inwhich dividing cells are preferentially killed. In a preferredembodiment, MPIF-1 is administered prior to radiation therapy oradministration of a cell-cycle active drug and sufficient time isallowed for MPIF-1 to suppress the proliferation of myeloid cells.Further contemplated by the present invention is the use of MPIF-1 toprotect myeloid cells during multiple rounds of therapy in whichdividing cells are preferentially killed. In such a case, MPIF-1 may beadministered in either a single dose or multiple doses at different timepoints in the therapy or treatment regimen.

As indicated above, MPIF-1 may be used alone or in conjunction with oneor more myelostimulators. Myelostimulators are currently used in the artto stimulate the proliferation of myeloid cells after their depletion inan individual undergoing radiation therapy or treatment with acell-cycle active drug. See, e.g., Kannan, V. et al., Int. J. Radiat.Oncol. Biol. Phys. 37:1005–1010 (1997); Engelhardt, M. et al., BoneMarrow Transplant 19:529–537 (1997); Vadhan-Raj, S. et al., Ann InternMed. 126:673–681 (1997); Harker, L. et al., Blood 89:155–165 (1997);Basser, R, et al., Lancet 348:1279–1281 (1996); Grossman, A. et al.,Blood 88:3363–3370 (1996); Gordon, M. et al., Blood 87:3615–3624 (1996).MPIF-1 may, for example, be administered prior to therapy which killsdividing cells and one or more myelostimulators administered after orduring the course of such therapy. In such a case, MPIF-1 will protectmyeloid cells from the therapy and administration of themyelostimulator(s) will then result in expansion of the protectedmyeloid cell population.

Myelostimulators are typically administered to patients undergoingtreatment with a chemotherapeutic agent in therapeutically effectiveamounts. Dosage formulation and mode of administration may vary with anumber of factors including the individual being treated, the conditionof the cells being stimulated, the stage of treatment in thechemotherapeutic regimen, and the myelostimulator(s) being used. GM-GSFand G-CSF, for examples, are therapeutically effective at dosages ofabout 1 μg/kilogram and 5 to 10 μg/kilogram of body weight,respectively, and may be administered daily by subcutaneous injection.See, e.g., Kannan, V. et al., Int. J. Radiat. Oncol. Biol. Phys.37:1005–1010 (1997); Engelhardt, M. et al., Bone Marrow Transplant19:529–537 (1997); Sniecinski, I. et al., Blood 89:1521–1528 (1997).IL-11 maybe administered by daily subcutaneous injection at a dosagerange of up to 100 μg/kilogram of body weight. Gordon, M. et al., supra.Doses of IL-11 below 10 μg/kilogram, however, are believed to beeffective in reducing chemotherapy-induced thrombocytopenia. Tpo may beadministered by intravenous injection at a dosage range of 0.3 to 2.5μg/kilogram of body weight. See, e.g., Vadhan-Raj, S. et al., Ann.Intern. Med. 126:673–681 (1997); Harker, L. et al., Blood 89:155–165(1997). As one skilled in the art would recognize, the optimal dosageformulation and mode of administration will vary with a number offactors including those noted above. Dosage formulation and mode ofadministration for additional myelostimulators are known in the art.

The timing of administration of myelostimulators as part of a treatmentprotocol involving therapy which preferentially kill dividing cells mayalso vary with the factors described above for dosage formulation andmode of administration. A number of reports have been published whichdisclose the administration of myelostimulators to individuals as partof treatment protocols involving radiation therapy or cell-cycle activedrugs. Vadhan-Raj, S. et al., supra, for example, report the use of asingle intravenous dose of Tpo three weeks prior to the administrationof a chemotherapeutic agent. Papadimitrou, C. et al., Cancer79:2391–2395 (1997) and Whitehead, R. et al., J. Clin. Oncol.15:2414–2419 (1997) report chemotherapeutic treatment methods whichinvolve the administration of chemotherapeutic agents over the course ofseveral weeks. In each of these cases, doses of G-CSF are administeredat multiple time points after the first day and before the last day oftreatment with the chemotherapeutic agent. Similar usage of both IL-11and GM-CSF are reported in Gordon, M. et al., supra, and Michael, M., etal., Am. J. Clin. Oncol. 20:259–262 (1997). One skilled in the art wouldrecognize, however, that optimal timing of administration ofmyelostimulators will vary with the particular myelostimulators used andthe conditions under which they are administered.

Thus, the administration of myelostimulators to alleviate cytotoxiceffects that therapies which preferentially kill dividing cells have onmyeloid cells is known in the art. The myelostimulators may beadministered by several routes, including intravenous and subcutaneousinjection. The concentrations of myelostimulators administered varywidely with numerous factors but generally range between 0.1 to 100μg/kilogram of body weight and may be administered in a single dose orin multiple doses at various time points in the chemotherapeutic orradiological treatment regimen. Myelostimulators are generallyadministered, however, prior to or after administration of thechemotherapeutic agent or radiological treatment. As one skilled in theart would understand, the conditions under which myelostimulators areused will vary with both the particular myelostimulator and thetreatment regimen.

As the skilled artisan will appreciate, MPIF-1 can be used as describedabove to enhance the effectiveness of hematopoietic growth factorsgenerally. Such hematopoietic growth factors include erythropoietin,which stimulates production of erythrocytes, and IL-3, a multilineagegrowth factor that stimulates more primitive stem cells, thus increasingthe number of all blood cell types. Others include stem cell factor;GM-CSF; and hybrid molecules of G-CSF and erythropoietin; IL-3 and SCF;and GM-CSF and G-CSF.

The myelosuppressive pharmaceutical compositions of the presentinvention are also useful in the treatment of leukemia, which causes ahyperproliferative myeloid cell state. Thus, the invention furtherprovides methods for treating leukemia, which involve administering to aleukemia patient a myelosuppressive amount of MPIF-1 either alone ortogether with one or more chemokines selected from the group consistingof MIP-1α, MIP-2α, PF4, IL-8, MCAF, and MRP-2.

By “suppressing myeloid cell proliferation” is intended decreasing thecell proliferation of myeloid cells and/or increasing the percentage ofmyeloid cells in the slow-cycling phase. As above, by “individual” isintended mammalian animals, preferably humans. Preincubation of themyelosuppressive compositions of the present invention with acetonitrile(ACN) significantly enhances the specific activity of these chemokinesfor suppression of myeloid progenitor cells. Thus, preferably, prior toadministration, the myelosuppresive compositions of the presentinvention are pretreated with ACN as described in Broxmeyer H. E., etal., Ann-Hematol. 71(5):235–46(1995) and PCT Publication WO 94/13321,the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated herein byreference.

The myelosuppressive compositions of the present invention may be usedin combination with a variety of chemotherapeutic agents includingalkylating agents such as nitrogen mustards, ethylenimines,methylmelamines, alkyl sulfonates, nitrosuoureas, and triazenes;antimetabolites such as folic acid analogs, pyrimidine analogs, inparticular fluorouracil and cytosine arabinoside, and purine analogs;natural products such as vinca alkaloids, epipodophyllotoxins,antibiotics, enzymes and biological response modifiers; andmiscellaneous products such as platinum coordination complexes,anthracenedione, substituted urea such as hydroxyurea, methyl hydrazinederivatives, and adrenocorticoid suppressant.

Chemotherapeutic agents can be administered at known concentrationsaccording to known techniques. The myelosuppressive compositions of thepresent invention can be co-administered with a chemotherapeutic agent,or administered separately, either before or after chemotherapeuticadministration.

Certain chemokines, such as MIP-1β, MIP-2β and GRO-α, inhibit (at leastpartially block) the myeloid suppressive affects of the myelosuppresivecompositions of the present invention. Thus, in a further embodiment,the invention provides methods for inhibiting myelosuppression, whichinvolves administering an effective amount of a myelosuppressiveinhibitor selected from the group consisting of MIP-1β, MIP-2β and GRO-αto a mammal previously exposed to the myelosuppresive agent MPIF-1either alone or together with one or more of MIP-1α, MIP-2α, PF4, IL-8,MCAF, and MRP-2.

One of ordinary skill will appreciate that effective amounts of theMPIF-1 polypeptides for treating an individual in need of an increasedlevel of MPIF-1 activity (including amounts of MPIF-1 polypeptideseffective for myelosuppression with or without myelosuppressive agentsor myelosuppressive inhibitors) can be determined empirically for eachcondition where administration of MPIF-1 is indicated. The polypeptidehaving MPIF-1 activity my be administered in pharmaceutical compositionsin combination with one or more pharmaceutically acceptable excipients.

MPIF-1 may also be employed to treat leukemia and abnormallyproliferating cells, for example tumor cells, by inducing apoptosis.MPIF-1 induces apoptosis in a population of hematopoietic progenitorcells.

MPIF-1 maybe employed for the expansion of immature hematopoieticprogenitor cells, for example, granulocytes, macrophages or monocytes,by temporarily preventing their differentiation. These bone marrow cellsmay be cultured in vitro. Thus, MPIF-1 can also be useful as a modulatorof hematopoietic stem cells in vitro for the purpose of bone marrowtransplantation and/or gene therapy. Since stem cells are rare and aremost useful for introducing genes into for gene therapy, MPIF can beused to isolate enriched populations of stem cells. Stem cells can beenriched by culturing cells in the presence of cytotoxins, such as 5-Fu,which kills rapidly dividing cells, where as the stem cells will beprotected by MPIF-1. These stem cells can be returned to a bone marrowtransplant patient or can then be used for transfection of the desiredgene for gene therapy. In addition, MPIF-1 can be injected intoindividuals which results in the release of stem cells from the bonemarrow of the individual into the peripheral blood. These stem cells canbe isolated for the purpose of autologous bone marrow transplantation ormanipulation for gene therapy. After the patient has finishedchemotherapy or radiation treatment, the isolated stem cells can bereturned to the patient.

In addition, since MPIF-1 has effects on T-lymphocytes as well asmacrophages, MPIF-1 may enhance the capacity of antigen presenting cells(APCs) to take up virus, bacteria or other foreign substances, processthem and present them to the lymphocytes responsible for immuneresponses. MPIF-1 may also modulate the interaction of APCs withT-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes. MPIF-1 may provide a costimulatorysignal during antigen presentation which directs the responding cell tosurvive, proliferate, differentiate, secrete additional cytokines orsoluble mediators, or selectively removes the responding cell byinducing apoptosis or other mechanisms of cell death. Since APCs havebeen shown to facilitate the transfer of HIV to CD4+ T-lymphocytes,MPIF-1 may also influence this ability and prevent infection oflymphocytes by HIV or other viruses mediated through APCs. This is alsotrue for the initial infection of APCs, T-lymphocytes or other celltypes by HIV, EBV, or any other such viruses.

In addition, recent demonstration that the MIP-1α receptor serves as acofactor in facilitating the entry of HIV into human monocytes andT-lymphocytes raises an interesting possibility that MPIF-1 or itsvariants might interfere with the process of HIV entry into the cells.(See, Example 17). Thus, MPIF-1 can be useful as an antiviral agent forviruses and retroviruses whose entry is facilitated by the MIP-1αreceptor.

MPIF-1 may act as an immune enhancement factor by stimulating theintrinsic activity of T-lymphocytes to fight bacterial and viralinfection as well as other foreign bodies. Such activities are usefulfor the normal response to foreign antigens such as infection ofallergies as well as immunoresponses to neoplastic or benign growthincluding both solid tumors and leukemias.

For these reasons the present invention is useful for diagnosis ortreatment of various immune system-related disorders in mammals,preferably humans. Such disorders include tumors, cancers, and anydisregulation of immune cell function including, but not limited to,autoimmunity, arthritis, leukemias, lymphomas, immunosuppression,sepsis, wound healing, acute and chronic infection, cell mediatedimmunity, humoral immunity, inflammatory bowel disease,myelosuppression, and the like.

M-CIF Therapeutic/Diagnostic Applications. M-CIF activity is useful forimmune enhancement or suppression, myeloprotection, stem cellmobilization, acute and chronic inflammatory control and treatment ofleukemia. In addition, since M-CIF has effects on T-lymphocytes as wellas macrophages, M-CIF enhances the capacity of antigen presenting cells(APCs) to take up virus, bacteria or other foreign substances, processthem and present them to the lymphocytes responsible for immuneresponses. In addition, M-CIF also modulates the interaction of APCswith T-lymphocytes and B-lymphocytes. For instance, M-CIF provides acostimulation signal during antigen presentation which directs theresponding cell to survive, proliferate, differentiate, secreteadditional cytokines or soluble mediators, or selectively removes theresponding cell by inducing apoptosis or other mechanisms of cell death.Since APCs have been shown to facilitate the transfer of HIV to CD4+T-lymphocytes, M-CIF also influences this ability and prevents infectionof lymphocytes by HIV or other viruses mediated through APCs. This isalso true for the initial infection of APCs, T-lymphocytes or other celltypes by HIV, EBV, or any other such viruses.

M-CIF suppresses the immune system. As one mechanism, it is believedthat M-CIF down regulates the activity of T-lymphocytes via CTLA-4. Theactivation and subsequent differentiation of T-cells requires two typesof signals from APCs. One of these two signals is an antigen-independentsignal mediated by engagement of the T cell surface molecule CD28 withmembers of the B7 family on the APC. Allison, Curr. Opin. Immunol. 6:414(1994); June et al., Immunol. Today 15: 321 (1994). In contrast to CD28,CTLA-4 is critical for the negative regulation of T cell responses.Waterhouse et al., Science 270: 985 (1995). Recent studies suggest thatthe outcome of T cell activation is determined by a delicately balancedinterplay between positive signals from CD28 and negative signals fromCTLA-4. Waterhouse et al., Science 270: 985 (1995). The cumulativeresults of a number studies suggest that the blockade of CTLA-4 removed,whereas aggregation of CTLA-4 provided, inhibitory signals that downregulate T cell responses. Allison et al., Science 270: 932–933 (1995).In addition, the phenotype of CTLA-4 knock-out mice supports aninhibitory signaling role for CTLA-4 in the regulation of T cellresponses. Allison et al., Science 270: 932–933 (1995). M-CIF appears toinduce CTLA-4 cells which, as discussed above, is a known down regulatorof T cells. In addition, M-CIF directly inhibits CD8+ T cells which isalso a known down regulator of T cells.

The ability of M-CIF to down regulate T cells is useful for modulatingthe immune response to foreign antigens from infection by bacteria orviruses and allergies as well as immunoresponses to neoplastic or benigngrowth including both solid tumors and leukemias.

For these reasons the present invention is useful for diagnosis ortreatment of various immune system-related disorders in mammals,preferably humans. Such disorders include tumors, cancers, and anydisregulation of immune cell function including, but not limited to,autoimmunity, arthritis, asthma, leukemias, lymphomas,immunosuppression, sepsis, wound healing, acute and chronic infection,cell mediated immunity, humoral immunity, inflammatory bowel disease,myelosuppression, and the like.

M-CIF, as an antiinflammatory, can be used to treat such disorders as,but not limited to, those involving abnormal production of TNFα. Suchdisorders include, but are not limited to, sepsis syndrome, includingcachexia, circulatory collapse and shock resulting from acute or chronicbacterial infection, acute and chronic parasitic or infectiousprocesses, including bacterial, viral and fungal infections, acute andchronic immune and autoimmune pathologies, such as systemic lupuserythematosus (SLE) and rheumatoid arthritis, alcohol-induced hepatitis,chronic inflammatory pathologies such as sarcoidosis and Crohn'spathology, vascular inflammatory pathologies such as disseminatedintravascular coagulation, graft-versus-host pathology, Kawasaki'spathology; malignant pathologies involving TNF-secreting tumors andneurodegenerative diseases.

Neurodegenerative diseases include, but are not limited to, AIDSdementia complex, demyelinating diseases, such as multiple sclerosis andacute transverse myelitis; extrapyramidal and cerebellar disorders' suchas lesions of the corticospinal system; disorders of the basal gangliaor cerebellar disorders; hyperkinetic movement disorders such asHuntington's Chorea and senile chorea; drug-induced movement disorders,such as those induced by drugs which block CNS dopamine receptors;hypokinetic movement disorders, such as Parkinson's disease; Progressivesupranucleo Palsy; structural lesions of the cerebellum; spinocerebellardegenerations, such as spinal ataxia, Friedreich's ataxia, cerebellarcortical degenerations, multiple systems degenerations (Mencel,Dejerine-Thomas, Shi-Drager, and Machado-Joseph); systemic disorders(Refsum's disease, abetalipoprotemia, ataxia, telangiectasia, andmitochondrial multisystem disorder); demyelinating core disorders, suchas multiple sclerosis, acute transverse myelitis; and disorders of themotor unit' such as neurogenic muscular atrophies (anterior horn celldegeneration, such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, infantile spinalmuscular atrophy and juvenile spinal muscular atrophy); Alzheimer'sdisease; Down's Syndrome in middle age; Diffuse Lewy body disease;Senile Dementia of Lewy body type; Wernicke-Korsakoff syndrome; chronicalcoholism; Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease; Subacute sclerosingpanencephalitis Hallerrorden-Spatz disease; and Dementia pugilistica.One preferred neurodegenerative disease is multiple sclerosis.

See, e.g., Berkow et al, eds., The Merck Manual, 16th edition, Merck andCo., Rahway, N.J., 1992, which reference, and references cited therein,are entirely incorporated herein by reference.

As noted above, M-CIF may also be used to treat SLE and otherdisease-states involving immune responses and inflammation. SLE is anautoimmune disease which results in the formation of complement-fixingimmune aggregates capable of inducing glomerulonephritis and vasculitis.Steinberg, A. D. and Klinman, D. M., Rheum. Dis. Clinics of No. Amer.14:25 (1988). A number of agents are currently in use, or are proposedfor use, in treating SLE and both lupus associated glomerulonephritisand vasculitis. Among these agents are antibodies with specificity forcell surface receptors required for the induction of immune responses.Anti-CD11a and anti-CD-54 monoclonal antibodies, for example, have beenshown to be effective in the treatment of experimental lupus nephritis.Koostra, C. J. et al., Clin. Exp. Immunol. 108:324–332 (1997). Blockingthe interaction between CD28/CTLA-4 and their ligands (e.g., CD80 andCD86) has also been proposed as a means for suppressing immune responsesassociated with lupus, and the administration of CD80 and CD86 specificmonoclonal antibodies has been shown to prevent the development andprogression of lupus in an experimental animal model. Nakajima, A. etal., Eur. J. Immunol. 25:3060–3069 (1995). Chemical agents have alsobeen shown to have therapeutic effect in the treatment of SLE and bothlupus associated glomerulonephritis and vasculitis. These agents includeantifolate compounds (e.g., methotrexate and MX-68) andimmunosuppressants (e.g., corticosteroids, cyclophosphamide,mycophenolate mofetil, azathioprine). Coma, D. et al., Kidney Int.51:1583–1589 (1997); Mihara, M. et al., Int. Arch. Allergy Immunol.113:454–459 (1997); Gansauge, S. et al., Ann. Rheum. Dis. 56:382–385(1997). Additional agents have therapeutic effect for the treatment ofafflictions associated with non-lupus associated immune complexes. Twoclasses of such compounds are free radical scavengers (e.g., OPC-15161)and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors (e.g., quinapril). Sanaka,T. et al., Nephron 76:315–322 (1997); Ruiz-Ortega, M. et al., J. Am.Soc. Nephrol. 8:756–768 (1997).

As shown in Examples 19 and 29, M-CIF suppresses renal inflammationassociated with cell mediated immunity and ameliorates the progressionof lupus associated nephritis. The present invention thus provides amethod for treating SLE, as well as other diseases involving immuneresponses (e.g., those resulting from cell mediated immunity and theformation of immune complexes), comprising the administration of M-CIFto a patient in need thereof. M-CIF may be administered as the soleimmune response modulator or may be administered in conjunction with oneor more additional agents which modulate immune responses.

Accordingly, MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF can be used to facilitate woundhealing by controlling infiltration of target immune cells to the woundarea. In a similar fashion, the polypeptides of the present inventioncan enhance host defenses against chronic infections, e.g.mycobacterial, via the attraction and activation of microbicidalleukocytes.

The polypeptides of the present invention, and polynucleotides encodingsuch polypeptides, may be employed as research reagents for in vitropurposes related to scientific research, synthesis of DNA andmanufacture of DNA vectors, and for the purpose of developingtherapeutics and diagnostics for the treatment of human disease. Forexample, M-CIF and MPIF-1 may be employed for the expansion of immaturehematopoietic progenitor cells, for example, granulocytes, macrophagesor monocytes, by temporarily preventing their differentiation. Thesebone marrow cells may be cultured in vitro.

Another use of the polypeptides is the inhibition of T-cellproliferation via inhibition of IL-2 biosynthesis, for example, inauto-immune diseases and lymphocytic leukemia.

MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF can also be useful for inhibiting epidermalkeratinocyte proliferation which has utility in psoriasis (keratinocytehyper-proliferation) since Langerhans cells in skin have been found toproduce MIP-1α.

MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF can be used to prevent scarring during woundhealing both via the recruitment of debris-cleaning and connectivetissue-promoting inflammatory cells and by its control of excessiveTGFβ-mediated fibrosis, in addition these polypeptides can be used totreat stroke, thrombocytosis, pulmonary emboli and myeloproliferativedisorders, since MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF increase vascular permeability.

Pharmaceutical Compositions. The MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptidepharmaceutical composition comprises an effective amount of an isolatedMPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide of the invention, particularly amature form of the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4, effective to increase theMPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 activity level in such an individual. Suchcompositions can be formulated and dosed in a fashion consistent withgood medical practice, taking into account the clinical condition of theindividual patient (especially the side effects of treatment withMPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide alone), the site of delivery of theMPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide composition, the method ofadministration, the scheduling of administration, and other factorsknown to practitioners. The “effective amount” of MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4polypeptide for purposes herein is thus determined by suchconsiderations.

Polypeptides, antagonists or agonists of the present invention can beemployed in combination with a suitable pharmaceutical carrier. Suchcompositions comprise a therapeutically effective amount of the protein,and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or excipient. Such a carrierincludes but is not limited to saline, buffered saline, dextrose, water,glycerol, ethanol, and combinations thereof. The formulation should suitthe mode of administration.

By “pharmaceutically acceptable carrier” is meant a non-toxic solid,semisolid or liquid filler, diluent, encapsulating material orformulation auxiliary of any type. The term “parenteral” as used hereinrefers to modes of administration which include intravenous,intramuscular, intraperitoneal, intrastemal, subcutaneous andintraarticular injection and infusion.

The MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide is also suitably administered bysustained-release systems. Suitable examples of sustained-releasecompositions include semi-permeable polymer matrices in the form ofshaped articles, e.g. films, or microcapsules. Sustained-releasematrices include polylactides (U.S. Pat. No. 3,773,919, EP 58,481),copolymers of L-glutamic acid and gamma-ethyl-L-glutamate (Sidman, U. etal., Biopolymers 22:547–556 (1983)), poly (2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate)(R. Langer et al., J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 15:167–277 (1981), and R.Langer, Chem. Tech. 12:98–105 (1982)), ethylene vinyl acetate (R. Langeret al., Id.) or poly-D-(−)-3-hydroxybutyric acid (EP 133,988).Sustained-release MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide compositions alsoinclude liposomally entrapped MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide.Liposomes containing MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide are prepared bymethods known per se: DE 3,218,121; Epstein et al., Proc. Natl. Acad.Sci. (USA) 82:3688–3692 (1985); Hwang et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci.(USA) 77:4030–4034 (1980); EP 52,322; EP 36,676; EP 88,046; EP 143,949;EP 142,641; Japanese Pat. Appl. 83-118008; U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,485,045 and4,544,545; and EP 102,324. Ordinarily, the liposomes are of the small(about 200–800 Angstroms) unilamellar type in which the lipid content isgreater than about 30 mol. percent cholesterol, the selected proportionbeing adjusted for the optimal MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptidetherapy.

For parenteral administration, in one embodiment, the MPIF-1, M-CIF orMIP-4 polypeptide is formulated generally by mixing it at the desireddegree of purity, in a unit dosage injectable form (solution,suspension, or emulsion), with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier,i.e., one that is non-toxic to recipients at the dosages andconcentrations employed and is compatible with other ingredients of theformulation. For example, the formulation preferably does not includeoxidizing agents and other compounds that are known to be deleterious topolypeptides.

Generally, the formulations are prepared by contacting the MPIF-1, M-CIFor MIP-4 polypeptide uniformly and intimately with liquid carriers orfinely divided solid carriers or both. Then, if necessary, the productis shaped into the desired formulation. Preferably the carrier is aparenteral carrier, more preferably a solution that is isotonic with theblood of the recipient. Examples of such carrier vehicles include water,saline, Ringer's solution, and dextrose solution. Non-aqueous vehiclessuch as fixed oils and ethyl oleate are also useful herein, as well asliposomes.

The carrier suitably contains minor amounts of additives such assubstances that enhance isotonicity and chemical stability. Suchmaterials are non-toxic to recipients at the dosages and concentrationsemployed, and include buffers such as phosphate, citrate, succinate,acetic acid, and other organic acids or their salts; antioxidants suchas ascorbic acid; low molecular weight (less than about ten residues)polypeptides, e.g. polyarginine or tripeptides; proteins, such as serumalbumin, gelatin, or immunoglobulins; hydrophilic polymers such aspolyvinylpyrrolidone; amino acids, such as glycine, glutamic acid,aspartic acid, or arginine; monosaccharides, disaccharides, and othercarbohydrates including cellulose or its derivatives, glucose, mannose,or dextrins; chelating agents such as EDTA; sugar alcohols such asmannitol or sorbitol; counterions such as sodium; and/or nonionicsurfactants such as polysorbates, poloxamers, or PEG.

The MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide is typically formulated in suchvehicles at a concentration of about 0.1 mg/ml to 100 mg/ml, preferably1–10 mg/ml, at a pH of about 3 to 8. It will be understood that the useof certain of the foregoing excipients, carriers, or stabilizers willresult in the formation of MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide salts.

When MPIF-1, and/or variants thereof, is administered as amyeloprotectant as part of a chemotherapeutic regimen for the treatmentof hyperproliferative disorders in humans, a suitable dosage range forintravenous administration is 0.01 μg/kg to 10 μg/kg of body weight.Further, MPIF-1 may be administered intravenously at doses of 0.1, 1.0,10, and 100 μg/kg of body weight. Extrapolation of data from animalstudies indicates that a dosage of MPIF-1 suitable for myeloprotectionin humans is 0.016 μg/kg of body weight.

Further, MPIF-1, and/or a variant thereof, may be administered oncedaily for a specified number of days (e.g., three days). In addition,when used in a chemotherapeutic regimen, MPIF-1 may be administered to ahuman prior to the administration of the chemotherapeutic agent(s). Forexample, MPIF-1 may be administered two days before, one day before andthe day of administration of a chemotherapeutic agent(s).

When MPIF-1, and/or a variant thereof, is administered to a human forthe treatment of myeloproliferative disorders the dosages administeredmay be the same as when MPIF-1 is used as a myeloprotectant. Whenadministered to a human for the treatment of myeloproliferativedisorders, MPIF-1 may be administered subcutaneously.

MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide to be used for therapeuticadministration must be sterile. Sterility is readily accomplished byfiltration through sterile filtration membranes (e.g., 0.2 micronmembranes). Therapeutic MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide compositionsgenerally are placed into a container having a sterile access port, forexample, an intravenous solution bag or vial having a stopper pierceableby a hypodermic injection needle.

MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide ordinarily will be stored in unit ormulti-dose containers, for example, sealed ampules or vials, as anaqueous solution or as a lyophilized formulation for reconstitution. Asan example of a lyophilized formulation, 10-ml vials are filled with 5ml of sterile-filtered 1% (w/v) aqueous MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4polypeptide solution, and the resulting mixture is lyophilized. Theinfusion solution is prepared by reconstituting the lyophilized MPIF-1,M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide using bacteriostatic Water-for-Injection.

The invention also provides a pharmaceutical pack or kit comprising oneor more containers filled with one or more of the ingredients of thepharmaceutical compositions of the invention. Associated with suchcontainer(s) can be a notice in the form prescribed by a governmentalagency regulating the manufacture, use or sale of pharmaceuticals orbiological products, which notice reflects approval by the agency ofmanufacture, use or sale for human administration. In addition, thepolypeptides of the present invention may be employed in conjunctionwith other therapeutic compounds.

Modes of administration. It will be appreciated that conditions causedby a decrease in the standard or normal level of MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4activity in an individual, can be treated by administration of MPIF-1,M-CIF or MIP-4 protein. Thus, the invention further provides a method oftreating an individual in need of an increased level of MPIF-1, M-CIF orMIP-4 activity comprising administering to such an individual apharmaceutical composition comprising an effective amount of an isolatedMPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide of the invention, particularly amature form of the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4, effective to increase theMPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 activity level in such an individual.

The amounts and dosage regimens of MPIF-1, MIP-4 and M-CIF administeredto a subject will depend on a number of factors such as the mode ofadministration, the nature of the condition being treated and thejudgment of the prescribing physician. The pharmaceutical compositionsare administered in an amount which is effective for treating and/orprophylaxis of the specific indication. In general, the polypeptideswill be administered in an amount of at least about 10 μg/kg body weightand in most cases they will be administered in an amount not in excessof about 10 mg/kg body weight per day and preferably the dosage is fromabout 10 μg/kg body weight daily, taking into account the routes ofadministration, symptoms, etc.

As a general proposition, the total pharmaceutically effective amount ofMPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 polypeptide administered parenterally per dosewill more preferably be in the range of about 1 μg/kg/day to 10mg/kg/day of patient body weight, although, as noted above, this will besubject to therapeutic discretion. Even more preferably, this dose is atleast 0.01 mg/kg/day, and most preferably for humans between about 0.01and 1 mg/kg/day. If given continuously, the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4polypeptide is typically administered at a dose rate of about 1μg/kg/hour to about 50 μg/kg/hour, either by 1–4 injections per day orby continuous subcutaneous infusions, for example, using a mini-pump. Anintravenous bag solution may also be employed. The length of treatmentneeded to observe changes and the interval following treatment forresponses to occur appears to vary depending on the desired effect.

Pharmaceutical compositions containing the MPIF-1, M-CIF or MIP-4 of theinvention may be administered orally, rectally, parenterally,intracistemally, intravaginally, intraperitoneally, topically (as bypowders, ointments, drops or transdermal patch), bucally, or as an oralor nasal spray.

Gene Therapy. The chemokine polypeptides, and agonists or antagonistswhich are polypeptides, may be employed in accordance with the presentinvention by expression of such polypeptides in vivo, which is oftenreferred to as “gene therapy.”

Thus, for example, cells from a patient can be engineered with apolynucleotide (DNA or RNA) encoding a polypeptide ex vivo, with theengineered cells then being provided to a patient to be treated with thepolypeptides. Such methods are well-known in the art. For example, cellscan be engineered by procedures known in the art by use of a retroviralparticle containing RNA encoding the polypeptides of the presentinvention.

Similarly, cells can be engineered in vivo for expression of apolypeptides in vivo by, for example, procedures known in the art. Asknown in the art, a producer cell for producing a retroviral particlecontaining RNA encoding the polypeptides of the present invention can beadministered to a patient for engineering the cells in vivo andexpression of the polypeptides in vivo. These and other methods foradministering polypeptides of the present invention by such methodshould be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teachings of thepresent invention. For example, the expression vehicle for engineeringcells can be other than a retrovirus, for example, an adenovirus whichcan be used to engineer cells in vivo after combination with a suitabledelivery vehicle.

The retroviral plasmid vectors may be derived from retroviruses whichinclude, but are not limited to, Moloney Murine Sarcoma Virus, MoloneyMurine Leukemia Virus, spleen necrosis virus, Rous Sarcoma Virus andHarvey Sarcoma Virus.

In a preferred embodiment the retroviral expression vector, pMV-7, isflanked by the long terminal repeats (LTRs) of the Moloney murinesarcoma virus and contains the selectable drug resistance gene neo underthe regulation of the herpes simplex virus (HSV) thymidine kinase (tk)promoter. Unique EcoRI and HindIII sites facilitate the introduction ofcoding sequence (Kirschmeier, P. T. et al., DNA 7:219–25 (1988)).

The vectors include one or more suitable promoters which include, butare not limited to, the retroviral LTR; the SV40 promoter; and the humancytomegalovirus (CMV) promoter described in Miller, et al.,Biotechniques, Vol. 7, No. 9:980–990 (1989), or any other promoter (e.g.cellular promoters such as eukaryotic cellular promoters including, butnot limited to, the histone, pol III, and β-actin promoters). Theselection of a suitable promoter will be apparent to those skilled inthe art from the teachings contained herein.

The nucleic acid sequence encoding the polypeptide of the presentinvention is under the control of a suitable promoter which includes,but is not limited to, viral thymidine kinase promoters, such as theHerpes Simplex thymidine kinase promoter; retroviral LTRs, the β-actinpromoter, and the native promoter which controls the gene encoding thepolypeptide.

The retroviral plasmid vector is employed to transduce packaging celllines to form producer cell lines. Examples of packaging cells which maybe transfected include, but are not limited to, the PE501, PA317 andGP+aml2. The vector may transduce the packaging cells through any meansknown in the art. Such means include, but are not limited to,electroporation, the use of liposomes, and CaPO₄ precipitation.

The producer cell line generates infectious retroviral vector particleswhich include the nucleic acid sequence(s) encoding the polypeptides.Such retroviral vector particles then may be employed, to transduceeukaryotic cells, either in vitro or in vivo. The transduced eukaryoticcells will express the nucleic acid sequence(s) encoding thepolypeptide. Eukaryotic cells which may be transduced, include but arenot limited to, fibroblasts and endothelial cells.

The present invention will be further described with reference to thefollowing examples; however, it is to be understood that the presentinvention is not limited to such examples. All parts or amounts, unlessotherwise specified, are by weight.

In order to facilitate understanding of the following examples certainfrequently occurring methods and/or terms will be described.

“Plasmids” are designated by a lower case p preceded and/or followed bycapital letters and/or numbers. The starting plasmids herein are eithercommercially available, publicly available on an unrestricted basis, orcan be constructed from available plasmids in accord with publishedprocedures. In addition, equivalent plasmids to those described areknown in the art and will be apparent to the ordinarily skilled artisan.

“Digestion” of DNA refers to catalytic cleavage of the DNA with arestriction enzyme that acts only at certain sequences in the DNA. Thevarious restriction enzymes used herein are commercially available andtheir reaction conditions, cofactors and other requirements were used aswould be known to the ordinarily skilled artisan. For analyticalpurposes, typically 1 μg of plasmid or DNA fragment is used with about 2units of enzyme in about 20 μl of buffer solution. For the purpose ofisolating DNA fragments for plasmid construction, typically 5 to 50 μgof DNA are digested with 20 to 250 units of enzyme in a larger volume.Appropriate buffers and substrate amounts for particular restrictionenzymes are specified by the manufacturer. Incubation times of about 1hour at 37° C. are ordinarily used, but can vary in accordance with thesupplier's instructions. After digestion the reaction is electrophoreseddirectly on a polyacrylamide gel to isolate the desired fragment.

Size separation of the cleaved fragments is performed using 8 percentpolyacrylamide gel described by Goeddel, D. et al., Nucleic Acids Res.,8:4057 (1980).

“Oligonucleotides” refers to either a single strandedpolydeoxynucleotide or two complementary polydeoxynucleotide strandswhich can be chemically synthesized. Such synthetic oligonucleotideshave no 5′ phosphate and thus will not ligate to another oligonucleotidewithout adding a phosphate with an ATP in the presence of a kinase. Asynthetic oligonucleotide will ligate to a fragment that has not beendephosphorylated.

“Ligation” refers to the process of forming phosphodiester bonds betweentwo double stranded nucleic acid fragments (Maniatis, T., et al., Id.,p. 146). Unless otherwise provided, ligation can be accomplished usingknown buffers and conditions with 10 units to T4 DNA ligase (“ligase”)per 0.5 μg of approximately equimolar amounts of the DNA fragments to beligated.

Unless otherwise stated, transformation was performed as described inthe method of Graham, F. and Van der Eb, A., Virology, 52:456–457(1973).

Having now generally described the invention, the same will be morereadily understood through reference to the following example which isprovided by way of illustration, and is not intended to be limiting ofthe present invention.

EXAMPLE 1

Bacterial Expression and Purification of MPIF-1

The DNA sequence encoding for MPIF-1, ATCC® # 75676 is initiallyamplified using PCR oligonucleotide primers corresponding to the 5′ andsequences of the processed MPIF-1 protein (minus the signal peptidesequence) and the vector sequences 3′ to the MPIF-1 gene. Additionalnucleotides corresponding to Bam HI and XbaI were added to the 5′ and 3′sequences respectively. The 5′ oligonucleotide primer has the sequence5′-TCAGGATCCGTCACAAAAGATGCAGA-3′ (SEQ ID NO:12) contains a BamHIrestriction enzyme site followed by 18 nucleotides of MPIF-1 codingsequence starting from the presumed terminal amino acid of the processedprotein codon. The 3′ sequence 5′-CGCTCTAGAGTAAAACGACGGCCAGT-3′ (SEQ IDNO:13) contains complementary sequences to an XbaI site.

The restriction enzyme sites correspond to the restriction enzyme siteson the bacterial expression vector pQE-9 (Qiagen, Inc. Chatsworth,Calif.). pQE-9 encodes antibiotic resistance (Amp^(r)), a bacterialorigin of replication (ori), an IPTG-regulatable promoter operator(P/O), a ribosome binding site (RBS), a 6-His tag and restriction enzymesites. pQE-9 is then digested with BamHI and XbaI. The amplifiedsequences are ligated into pQE-9 and are inserted in frame with thesequence encoding for the histidine tag and the RBS. The ligationmixture is then used to transform E. coli strain M15/rep4 available fromQiagen. M15/rep4 contains multiple copies of the plasmid pREP4, whichexpresses the lacI repressor and also confers kanamycin resistance(Kan^(r)). Transformants are identified by their ability to grow on LBplates and ampicillin/kanamycin resistant colonies are selected. PlasmidDNA is isolated and confirmed by restriction analysis overnight (O/N) inliquid culture in LB media supplemented with both Amp (100 ug/ml) andKan (25 ug/ml). The O/N culture is used to inoculate a large culture ata ratio of 1:100 to 1:250. The cells are grown to an optical density 600(O.D.⁶⁰⁰) of between 0.4 and 0.6. IPTG (“Isopropyl-B-D-thiogalactopyranoside”) is then added to a final concentration of 1 mM. IPTGinduces by inactivating the lacI repressor, clearing the P/O leading toincreased gene expression. Cells are grown an extra 3 to 4 hours. Cellsare then harvested by centrifugation. The cell pellet is solubilized inthe chaotropic agent 6 M Guanidine HCl. After clarification, solubilizedMPIF-1 is purified from this solution by chromatography on aNickel-Chelate column under conditions that allow for tight binding byproteins containing the 6-His tag. Hochuli, E. et al., J. Chromatography411:177–184 (1984). MPIF-1 (95% pure) is eluted from the column in 6 Mguanidine HCl pH 5.0 and for the purpose of renaturation adjusted to 3 Mguanidine HCl, 100 mM sodium phosphate, 10 mM glutathione (reduced) and2 mM glutathione (oxidized). After incubation in this solution for 12hours the protein is dialyzed to 10 mM sodium phosphate.

Alternatively, the following non-tagged primers were used to clone thegene into plasmid pQE70:

5′ primer: 5′ CCC GCA TGC GGG TCA CAA AAG ATG CAG 3′ (SEQ ID NO:14)         SphI 3′ primer: 5′ AAA GGA TCC TCA ATT CTT CCT GGT CTT 3′ (SEQID NO:15)         BamHI  StopConstruction of E. coli Optimized MPIF-1

In order to increase expression levels of MPIF-1 in an E. coliexpression system, the codons of the gene were optimized to highly usedE. coli codons. For the synthesis of the optimized region of MPIF-1, aseries of 4 oligonucleotides were made: mpif-1 oligo numbers 1–4 (setforth below). These overlapping oligos were used in a PCR reaction forseven rounds at the following conditions:

Denaturation 95 degrees 20 seconds Annealing 58 degrees 20 secondsExtension 72 degrees 60 seconds

Following the seven rounds of synthesis, a 5′ primer to this region,(ACA TGC ATG CGU GUU ACC AAA GAC GCU GAA ACC GAA UUC AUG AUG UCC (SEQ IDNO:16)) and a 3′ primer to this entire region, (GCC CAA GCT TTC AGT TTTTAC GGG TTT TGA TAC GGG (SEQ ID NO:17)), were added to a PCR reaction,containing 1 microliter from the initial reaction of the sixoligonucleotides. This product was amplified for 30 rounds using thefollowing conditions:

Denaturation 95 degrees 20 seconds Annealing 55 degrees 20 secondsExtension 72 degrees 60 seconds

The product produced by this final reaction was restricted with Sph Iand HindIII, and cloned into pQE70, which was also cut with Sph I andHindIII. These clones were expressed and found to have superiorexpression levels that without the above mutations.

mpif oligo number 1: 5′ GCA TGC GUG UUA CCA AAG ACG CUG AAA CCG AAU UCAUGA (SEQ ID NO:18) UGU CCA AAC UGC CGC UGG AAA ACC CGG UUC UGC UGG ACCGUU UCC ACG C 3′ mpif-1 oligo number 2: 5′ GCU GGA AUC CUA CUU CGA AACCAA CUC CGA AUG CUC CAA (SEQ ID NO:19) ACC GGG UGU UAU CUU CCU GAC CAAAAA AGG UCG UCG UUU CUG CGC UAA CCC GUC CGA CAA ACA GG 3′ mpif1 oligonumber 3: 5′ AAG CTT TCA GTT TTT ACG GGT TTT GAT ACG GGT GTC CAG TTT(SEQ ID NO:20) CAG CAT ACG CAT ACA AAC CTG AAC CTG TTT GTC GGA CGG GTTAGC GC 3′ mpif-1 oligo number 4: 5′ GGT TTC GAA GTA GGA TTC CAG CAG GGAGCA CGG GAT GGA (SEQ ID NO:21) ACG CGG GGT GTA GGA GAT GCA GCA GTC AGCGGA GGT AGC GTG GAA ACG GTC CAG C 3′Construction of MPIF-1 Deletion Mutants

Deletion mutants were constructed from the 5′ terminus of the MPIF-1gene using the E. coli optimized MPIF-1 construct set forth above. Theprimers used to construct the 5′ deletions are set forth below. The PCRamplification was performed as set forth above for the E. coli optimizedMPIF-1 construct. The products for the Delta 17-A qe6, Delta 23, Delta28 were restricted with NcoI for the 5′ site and HindIII for the 3′ siteand cloned into plasmid pQE60 that was digested with NcoI and HindIII.All other products were restricted with SphI for the 5′ site and HindIIIfor the 3′ site and cloned into plasmid pQE70 that was digested withSphI and HindIII.

The 5′ primers used are as follows:

-   Delta 17-A qe6 (pQE60)-   5′ NcoI gc gca g ccatgg aa aac ccg gtt ctg ctg gac 3′ (SEQ ID NO:22)    The resulting amino acid sequence of the deletion mutant:

MENPVLLDRFHATSADCCISYTPRSIPCSLLESYFE (SEQ ID NO:23)TNSECSKPGVIFLTKKGRRFCANPSDKQVQVCMRML KLDTRIKTRKN

-   Delta 16-A qe7 (pQE70)-   5′ Sph gc cat g gcatgc tg gaa aac ccg gtt ctg ctg gac (SEQ ID NO:24)    The resulting amino acid sequence of this deletion mutant:

MLENPVLLDRFHATSADCCISYTPRSIPCSLLESYF (SEQ ID NO:25)ETNSECSKPGVIFLTKKGRRFCANPSDKQVQVCMRM LKLDTRIKTRKN

-   Delta 23 (pQE60)-   5′ NcoI gc gca g ccatgg ac cgt ttc cac gct acc tcc (SEQ ID NO:26)    The resulting amino acid sequence of this deletion mutant:

MDRFHATSADCCISYTPRSIPCSLLESYFETNSECS (SEQ ID NO:27)KPGVIFLTKKGRRFCANPSDKQVQVCMRMLKLDTRI KTRKN

-   Delta 24 (pQE70)-   5′ SphI gcc atg gcatgc gtt tcc acg cta cct cc (SEQ ID NO:28)    The resulting amino acid sequence of this deletion mutant:

MRFHATSADCCISYTPRSIPCSLLESYFETNSECSK (SEQ ID NO:8)PGVIFLTKKGRRFCANPSDKQVQVCMRMLKLDTRIK TRKN

-   Delta 28 (pQE60)-   5′ NcoI gcg cag ccatgg cta cct ccg ctg act gct gc (SEQ ID NO:29)    The resulting amino acid sequence of this deletion mutant:

MATSADCCISYTPRSIPCSLLESYFETNSECSKPGV (SEQ ID NO:30)IFLTKKGRRFCANPSDKQVQVCMRMLKLDTRIKTRK N

-   S70 to A mutant (Ser at position 70 was mutated to Ala) (pQE70)

anti- ttc gaa gta ggc ttc cag cag (SEQ ID NO:31) sense sense ctg ctg gaagcc tac ttc gaa (SEQ ID NO:32)

-   5′ SphI full gcc atg gcatgc gtg tta cca aag acg ctg aaa cc (SEQ ID    NO:33)    The resulting amino acid sequence of this deletion mutant:

MRVTKDAETEFMMSKLPLENPVLLDRFHATSADCCI (SEQ ID NO:34)SYTPRSIPCSLLEaYFETNSECSKPGVIFLTKKGRR FCANPSDKQVQVCMRMLKLDTRIKTRKN

The 3′ primer used for all constructs:

-   3′ Hind III-   gcc c aagctt tca gt ttt tac ggg ttt tga tac ggg (SEQ ID NO:35)

The full length MPIF-1 sequence (from E. coli biased nt's)

MRVTKDAETEFMMSKLPLENPVLLDRFHATSADCCIS (SEQ ID NO:7)YTPRSIPCSLLESYFETNSECSKPGVIFLTKKGRRFC ANPSDKQVQVCMRMLKLDTRIKTRKN

EXAMPLE 2

Bacterial Expression and Purification of MIP-4

The DNA sequence encoding for MIP-4 ATCC® # 75675 was initiallyamplified using PCR oligonucleotide primers corresponding to the 5′sequences of the processed MIP-4 protein (minus the signal peptidesequence). Additional nucleotides corresponding to Bam HI and XbaI wereadded to the 5′ and 3′ sequences respectively. The 5′ oligonucleotideprimer has the sequence 5′-TCAGGATCCTGTGCACAAGTT GGTACC-3′ (SEQ IDNO:36) contains a BamHI restriction enzyme site followed by 18nucleotides of MIP-4 coding sequence starting from the presumed terminalamino acid of the processed protein codon; The 3′ sequence5′-CGCTCTAGAGTAAAACGACGGC CAGT-3′ (SEQ ID NO:13) contains complementarysequences to an XbaI site.

The restriction enzyme sites correspond to the restriction enzyme siteson the bacterial expression vector pQE-9 (Qiagen, Inc., Chatsworth,Calif.). pQE-9 encodes antibiotic resistance (Amp^(r)), a bacterialorigin of replication (ori), an IPTG-regulatable promoter operator(P/O), a ribosome binding site (RBS), a 6-His tag and restriction enzymesites. pQE-9 was then digested with BamHI and XbaI The amplifiedsequences were ligated into pQE-9 and were inserted in frame with thesequence encoding for the histidine tag and the RBS. The ligationmixture was then used to transform E. coli strain 15/rep4 available fromQiagen. M15/rep4 contains multiple copies of the plasmid pREP4, whichexpresses the lacI repressor and also confers kanamycin resistance(Kan^(r)). Transformants are identified by their ability to grow on LBplates and ampicillin/kanamycin resistant colonies were selected.Plasmid DNA was isolated and confirmed by restriction analysis.Transformants are identified by their ability to grow on LB plates andampicillin/kanamycin resistant colonies were selected. Plasmid DNA wasisolated and confirmed by restriction analysis. Clones containing thedesired constructs were grown overnight (O/N) in liquid culture in LBmedia supplemented with both Amp (100 ug/ml) and Kan (25 ug/ml). The O/Nculture is used to inoculate a large culture at a ratio of 1:100 to1:250. The cells were grown to an optical density 600 (O.D.⁶⁰⁰) ofbetween 0.4 and 0.6. IPTG (“Isopropyl-B-D-thiogalacto pyranoside”) wasthen added to a final concentration of 1 mM. IPTG induces byinactivating the lacI repressor, clearing the P/O leading to increasedgene expression. Cells were grown an extra 3 to 4 hours. Cells were thenharvested by centrifugation. The cell pellet was solubilized in thechaotropic agent 6 M Guanidine HCl. After clarification, solubilizedMIP-4 was purified from this solution by chromatography on aNickel-Chelate column under conditions that allow for tight binding byproteins containing the 6-His tag. Hochuli, E. et al., J. Chromatography411:177–184 (1984). MIP-4 (95% pure) was eluted from the column in 6 Mguanidine HCl pH 5.0 and for the purpose of renaturation adjusted to 3Mr guanidine HCl, 100 mM sodium phosphate, 10 mM glutathione (reduced)and 2 mM glutathione (oxidized). After incubation in this solution for12 hours the protein was dialyzed to 10 mM sodium phosphate.

Alternatively, the following non-tagged primers were used to clone thegene into plasmid pQE60:

5′ AAA AAG CTT TCA GGC ATT CAG CTT CAG 3′ (SEQ ID NO:37) pQE60         HindIII (3′ primer) 5′ AAA CCA TGG CAC AAG TTG GTA CCA AC 3′(SEQ ID NO:38) pQE60          NcoI (5′ primer)

EXAMPLE 3

Bacterial Expression and Purification of M-CIF

The DNA sequence encoding for M-CIF (ATCC® # 75572) is initiallyamplified using PCR oligonucleotide primers corresponding to the 5′ and3′ sequences of the processed M-CIF protein (minus the signal peptidesequence) and additional nucleotides corresponding to Bam HI and XbaIwere added to the 5′ and 3′ sequences respectively. The 5′oligonucleotide primer has the sequence 5′-GCCCGCGGATCCTCCTCACGGGGACCTTAC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:39) contains a BamHI restriction enzyme sitefollowed by 15 nucleotides of M-CIF coding sequence starting from thepresumed terminal amino acid of the processed protein codon; The 3′sequence 5′-GCCTGCTCTAGATCAAAGCAGGGAAGCTCCAG-3′ (SEQ ID NO:40) containscomplementary sequences to XbaI site a translation stop codon and thelast 20 nucleotides of M-CIF coding sequence.

The restriction enzyme sites correspond to the restriction enzyme siteson the bacterial expression vector pQE-9. (Qiagen, Inc. 9259 EtonAvenue, Chatsworth, Calif., 91311). pQE-9 encodes antibiotic resistance(Amp^(r)), a bacterial origin of replication (ori), an IPTG-regulatablepromoter operator (P/O), a ribosome binding site (RBS), a 6-His tag andrestriction enzyme sites. pQE-9 was then digested with BamHI and XbaI.The amplified sequences were ligated into pQE-9 and were inserted inframe with the sequence encoding for the histidine tag and the RBS. FIG.6 shows a schematic representation of this arrangement. The ligationmixture was then used to transform E. coli strain available from Qiagenunder the trademark M15/rep4. M15/rep4 contains multiple copies of theplasmid pREP4, which expresses the lacI repressor and also conferskanamycin resistance (Kan^(r)). Transformants are identified by theirability to grow on LB plates and ampicillin/kanamycin resistant colonieswere selected. Plasmid DNA was isolated and confirmed by restrictionanalysis. Clones containing the desired constructs were grown overnight(O/N) in liquid culture in LB media supplemented with both Amp (100ug/ml) and Kan (25 ug/ml). The O/N culture is used to inoculate a largeculture at a ratio of 1:100 to 1:250. The cells were grown to an opticaldensity 600 (O.D.⁶⁰⁰) of between 0.4 and 0.6. IPTG(“Isopropyl-B-D-thiogalacto pyranoside”) was then added to a finalconcentration of 1 mM. IPTG induces by inactivating the lacI repressor,clearing the P/O leading to increased gene expression. Cells were grownan extra 3 to 4 hours. Cells were then harvested by centrifugation. Thecell pellet was solubilized in the chaotropic agent 6 Molar GuanidineHCl. After clarification, solubilized M-CIF was purified from thissolution by chromatography on a Nickel-Chelate column under conditionsthat allow for tight binding by proteins containing the 6-His tagHochuli, E. et al., J. Chromatography 411:177–184 (1984). M-CIF (95%pure) was eluted from the column in 6 M guanidine HCl pH 5.0 and for thepurpose of renaturation adjusted to 3 M guanidine HCl, 100 mM sodiumphosphate, 10 mM glutathione (reduced) and 2 mM glutathione (oxidized).After incubation in this solution for 12 hours the protein was dialyzedto 10 mM sodium phosphate. The presence of a new protein correspondingto 14 kDa following induction demonstrated expression of the M-CIF (FIG.7).

Alternatively, the following non-tagged primers were used to insert thegene into plasmid pQE60:

5′ primer: 5′ AAA TCA TGA CCA AGA CTG AAT CCT CCT 3′ (SEQ ID NO:41)         BspHI 3′ primer: 5′ AAA AAG CTT TCA GTT CTC CTT CAT GTC 3′ (SEQID NO:42)          HindIII

EXAMPLE 4

Most of the vectors used for the transient expression of the MPIF-1,M-CIF or MIP-4 protein gene sequence in mammalian cells should carry theSV40 origin of replication. This allows the replication of the vector tohigh copy numbers in cells (e.g., COS cells) which express the T antigenrequired for the initiation of viral DNA synthesis. Any other mammaliancell line can also be utilized for this purpose.

A typical mammalian expression vector contains the promoter element,which mediates the initiation of transcription of mRNA, the proteincoding sequence, and signals required for the termination oftranscription and polyadenylation of the transcript. Additional elementsinclude enhancers, Kozak sequences and intervening sequences flanked bydonor and acceptor sites for RNA splicing. Highly efficienttranscription can be achieved with the early and late promoters fromSV40, the long terminal repeats (LTRs) from Retroviruses, e.g., RSV,HTLVI, HIVI and the early promoter of the cytomegalovirus (CMV).However, cellular signals can also be used (e.g., human actin promoter).Suitable expression vectors for use in practicing the present inventioninclude, for example, vectors such as pSVL and pMSG (Pharmacia, Uppsala,Sweden), pRSVcat (ATCC® 37152), pSV2dhfr (ATCC® 37146) and pBC12MI(ATCC® 67109). Mammalian host cells that could be used include, humanHeLa, 283, H9 and Jurkat cells, mouse NIH3T3 and C127 cells, Cos 1, Cos7 and CV1, African green monkey cells, quail QC1-3 cells, mouse L cellsand Chinese hamster ovary cells.

Alternatively, the gene can be expressed in stable cell lines thatcontain the gene integrated into a chromosome. The co-transfection witha selectable marker such as dhfr, gpt, neomycin, hygromycin allows theidentification and isolation of the transfected cells.

The transfected gene can also be amplified to express large amounts ofthe encoded protein. The DHFR (dihydrofolate reductase) is a usefulmarker to develop cell lines that carry several hundred or even severalthousand copies of the gene of interest. Another useful selection markeris the enzyme glutamine synthase (GS) (Murphy et al., Biochem J.227:277–279 (1991); Bebbington et al., Bio/Technology 10:169–175(1992)). Using these markers, the mammalian cells are grown in selectivemedium and the cells with the highest resistance are selected. Thesecell lines contain the amplified gene(s) integrated into a chromosome.Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells are often used for the production ofproteins.

The expression vectors pC1 and pC4 contain the strong promoter (LTR) ofthe Rous Sarcoma Virus (Cullen et al., Molecular and Cellular Biology,438–447 (March, 1985)) plus a fragment of the CMV-enhancer (Boshart etal., Cell 41:521–530 (1985)). Multiple cloning sites, e.g., with therestriction enzyme cleavage sites BamHI, XbaI and Asp718, facilitate thecloning of the gene of interest. The vectors contain in addition the 3□intron, the polyadenylation and termination signal of the ratpreproinsulin gene.

A. Expression of Recombinant MPIF-1 in COS Cells

The expression of plasmid, CMV-MPIF-1 HA is derived from a vectorpcDNAI/Amp (Invitrogen) containing: 1) SV40 origin of replication, 2)ampicillin resistance gene, 3) E. coli replication origin, 4) CMVpromoter followed by a polylinker region, a SV40 intron andpolyadenylation site. A DNA fragment encoding the entire MPIF-1precursor and a HA tag fused in frame to its 3′ end is cloned into thepolylinker region of the vector, therefore, the recombinant proteinexpression is directed under the CMV promoter. The HA tag correspond toan epitope derived from the influenza hemagglutinin protein aspreviously described (Wilson, H., et al., Cell 37:767 (1991)). Theinfusion of HA tag to our target protein allows easy detection of therecombinant protein with an antibody that recognizes the HA epitope.

The plasmid construction strategy is described as follows:

The DNA sequence, ATCC® # 75676, encoding for MPIF-1 is constructed byPCR on the original EST cloned using two primers: the 5′ primer5′-GGAAAGCTT ATGAAGGTCTCCGTGGCT-3′ (SEQ ID NO:43) contains a HindIIIsite followed by 18 nucleotides of MPIF-1 coding sequence starting fromthe initiation codon; the 3′ sequence5′-CGCTCTAGATCAAGCGTAGTCTGGGACGTCGTATGGGTAATTCTTCCTGG TCTTGATCC-3′ (SEQID NO:44) contains complementary sequences to Xba I site, translationstop codon, HA tag and the last 20 nucleotides of the MPIF-1 codingsequence (not including the stop codon). Therefore, the PCR productcontains a HindIII site, MPIF-1 coding sequence followed by HA tag fusedin frame, a translation termination stop codon next to the HA tag, andan XbaI site. The PCR amplified DNA fragment and the vector, pcDNAI/Amp,are digested with HindIII and XbaI restriction enzyme and ligated. Theligation mixture is transformed into E. coli strain SURE (available fromStratagene Cloning Systems, 11099 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla,Calif. 92037) the transformed culture is plated on ampicillin mediaplates and resistant colonies are selected. Plasmid DNA is isolated fromtransformants and examined by restriction analysis for the presence ofthe correct fragment. For expression of the recombinant MPIF-1, COScells are transfected with the expression vector by DEAE-DEXTRAN method.(J. Sambrook, E. Fritsch, T. Maniatis, Molecular Cloning: A LaboratoryManual, Cold Spring Laboratory Press, (1989)). The expression of theMPIF-1-HA protein is detected by radiolabeling and immunoprecipitationmethod. (E. Harlow, D. Lane, Antibodies: A Laboratory Manual, ColdSpring Harbor Laboratory Press, (1988)). Cells are labeled for 8 hourswith ³⁵S-cysteine two days post transfection. Culture media are thencollected and cells are lysed with detergent (RIPA buffer (150 mM NaCl,1% NP-40, 0.1% SDS, 1% NP-40, 0.5% DOC, 50 mM Tris, pH 7.5). (Wilson, I.et al., Id. 37:767 (1984)). Both cell lysate and culture media areprecipitated with a HA specific monoclonal antibody. Proteinsprecipitated are analyzed on 15% SDS-PAGE gels.

B. Cloning and Expression in CHO Cells

The vector pC1 is used for the expression of MPIF-1 protein. Plasmid pC1is a derivative of the plasmid pSV2-dhfr (ATCC® Accession No. 37146).Both plasmids contain the mouse DHFR gene under control of the SV40early promoter. Chinese hamster ovary- or other cells lackingdihydrofolate activity that are transfected with these plasmids can beselected by growing the cells in a selective medium (alpha minus MEM,Life Technologies) supplemented with the chemotherapeutic agentmethotrexate. The amplification of the DHFR genes in cells resistant tomethotrexate (MTX) has been well documented (see, e.g., Alt, F. W.,Kellems, R. M., Bertino, J. R., and Schimke, R. T., 1978, J. Biol. Chem.253:1357–1370, Hamlin, J. L. and Ma, C. 1990, Biochem. et Biophys. Acta,1097:107–143, Page, M. J. and Sydenham, M. A. 1991, Biotechnology Vol.9:64–68). Cells grown in increasing concentrations of MTX developresistance to the drug by overproducing the target enzyme, DHFR, as aresult of amplification of the DHFR gene. If a second gene is linked tothe DHFR gene it is usually co-amplified and over-expressed. It is stateof the art to develop cell lines carrying more than 1,000 copies of thegenes. Subsequently, when the methotrexate is withdrawn, cell linescontain the amplified gene integrated into the chromosome(s).

Plasmid pC1 contains for the expression of the gene of interest a strongpromoter of the long terminal repeat (LTR) of the Rouse Sarcoma Virus(Cullen, et al., Molecular and Cellular Biology, March 1985:438–4470)plus a fragment isolated from the enhancer of the immediate early geneof human cytomegalovirus (CMV) (Boshart et al., Cell 41:521–530, 1985).Downstream of the promoter are the following single restriction enzymecleavage sites that allow the integration of the genes: BamHI, followedby the 3′ intron and the polyadenylation site of the rat preproinsulingene. Other high efficient promoters can also be used for theexpression, e.g., the human β-actin promoter, the SV40 early or latepromoters or the long terminal repeats from other retroviruses, e.g.,HIV and HTLVI. For the polyadenylation of the mRNA other signals, e.g.,from the human growth hormone or globin genes can be used as well.

Stable cell lines carrying a gene of interest integrated into thechromosomes can also be selected upon co-transfection with a selectablemarker such as gpt, G418 or hygromycin. It is advantageous to use morethan one selectable marker in the beginning, e.g., G418 plusmethotrexate.

The plasmid pC1 is digested with the restriction enzyme BamHI and thendephosphorylated using calf intestinal phosphates by procedures known inthe art. The vector is then isolated from a 1% agarose gel.

The DNA sequence encoding MPIF-1, ATCC® No. 75676, is amplified usingPCR oligonucleotide primers corresponding to the 5′ and 3′ sequences ofthe gene:

The 5′ primer has the sequence:

(SEQ ID NO:45) 5′ AAA GGA TCC GCC ACC ATG AAG GTC TCC GTG GTC 3′         BamHI  KOZAKcontaining the underlined BamH1 restriction enzyme site and a portion ofthe sequence encoding the MPIF-1 protein of FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:3).Inserted into an expression vector, as described below, the 5′ end ofthe amplified fragment encoding human MPIF-1 provides an efficientsignal peptide. An efficient signal for initiation of translation ineukaryotic cells, as described by Kozak, M., J. Mol. Biol. 196:947–950(1987) is appropriately located in the vector portion of the construct.

The 3′ primer has the sequence:

(SEQ ID NO:46) 5′ AAA GGA TCC TCA ATT CTT CCA GGT CTT 3′         BamHI  Stopcontaining the Asp718 restriction site and a portion of nucleotidescomplementary to the MPIF-1 coding sequence set out in FIG. 1 (SEQ IDNO:3), including the stop codon.

The amplified fragments are isolated from a 1% agarose gel as describedabove and then digested with the endonucleases BamHI and Asp718 and thenpurified again on a 1% agarose gel.

The isolated fragment and the dephosphorylated vector are then ligatedwith T4 DNA ligase. E. coli HB101 cells are then transformed andbacteria identified that contained the plasmid pC1 inserted in thecorrect orientation using the restriction enzyme BamHI. The sequence ofthe inserted gene is confirmed by DNA sequencing.

Transfection of CHO-DHFR-cells

Chinese hamster ovary cells lacking an active DHFR enzyme are used fortransfection. 5 μg of the expression plasmid C1 are cotransfected with0.5 μg of the plasmid pSVneo using the lipofecting method (Felgner etal., supra). The plasmid pSV2-neo contains a dominant selectable marker,the gene neo from Tn5 encoding an enzyme that confers resistance to agroup of antibiotics including G418. The cells are seeded in alpha minusMEM supplemented with 1 mg/ml G418. After 2 days, the cells aretrypsinized and seeded in hybridoma cloning plates (Greiner, Germany)and cultivated from 10–14 days. After this period, single clones aretrypsinized and then seeded in 6-well petri dishes using differentconcentrations of methotrexate (25 nM, 50 nM, 100 nM, 200 nM, 400 nM).Clones growing at the highest concentrations of methotrexate are thentransferred to new 6-well plates containing even higher concentrationsof methotrexate (500 nM, 1 μM, 2 μM, 5 μM). The same procedure isrepeated until clones grow at a concentration of 100 μM.

The expression of the desired gene product is analyzed by Western blotanalysis and SDS-PAGE.

EXAMPLE 5

A. Expression of Recombinant MIP-4 in COS Cells

The expression of plasmid, CMV-MIP-4 HA is derived from a vectorpcDNAI/Amp (Invitrogen) containing: 1) SV40 origin of replication, 2)ampicillin resistance gene, 3) E. coli replication origin, 4) CMVpromoter followed by a polylinker region, a SV40 intron andpolyadenylation site. A DNA fragment encoding the entire MIP-4 precursorand a HA tag fused in frame to its 3′ end is cloned into the polylinkerregion of the vector, therefore, the recombinant protein expression isdirected under the CMV promoter. The HA tag correspond to an epitopederived from the influenza hemagglutinin protein as previously described(Wilson, H., et al., Cell 37:767 (1984)). The infusion of HA tag to thetarget protein allows easy detection of the recombinant protein with anantibody that recognizes the HA epitope.

The plasmid construction strategy is described as follows:

The DNA sequence ATCC® No. 75675 encoding for MIP-4 is constructed byPCR using two primers: the 5′ primer: 5′-GGAAAGCTTATGAAGGGCCTTGCAGCTGCC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:47) contains a HindIII site followed by 20nucleotides of MIP-4 coding sequence starting from the initiation codon;the 3′ sequence 5′-CGCTCTAGATCAABCGTAGTCTGGGACGTCGTATGGGTAGGCATTCAGCTTCAGGTC-3′ (SEQ ID NO:48)contains complementary sequences to Xba I site, translation stop codon,HA tag and the last 19 nucleotides of the MIP-4 coding sequence (notincluding the stop codon). Therefore, the PCR product contains a HindIIIsite, MIP-4 coding sequence followed by HA tag fused in frame, atranslation termination stop codon next to the HA tag, and an XbaI site.The PCR amplified DNA fragment and the vector, pcDNAI/Amp, are digestedwith HindIII and XbaI restriction enzyme and ligated. The ligationmixture is transformed into E. coli strain SURE (available fromStratagene Cloning Systems, La Jolla, Calif.) the transformed culture isplated on ampicillin media plates and resistant colonies are selected.Plasmid DNA is isolated from transformants and examined by restrictionanalysis for the presence of the correct fragment. For expression of therecombinant MIP-4, COS cells are transfected with the expression vectorby DEAE-DEXTRAN method. (J. Sambrook, E. Fritsch, T. Maniatis, MolecularCloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Laboratory Press, (1989)). Theexpression of the MIP-4-HA protein is detected by radiolabeling andimmunoprecipitation method. (E. Harlow, D. Lane, Antibodies: ALaboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, (1988)). Cellsare labeled for 8 hours with ³⁵S-cysteine two days post transfection.Culture media are then collected and cells are lysed with detergent(RIPA buffer (150 mM NaCl, 1% NP-40, 0.1% SDS, 1% NP-40, 0.5% DOC, 50 mMTris, pH 7.5). (Wilson, H., et al., Cell 37:767 (1984)). Both celllysate and culture media are precipitated with a HA specific monoclonalantibody. Proteins precipitated are analyzed on 15% SDS-PAGE gels.

B. Cloning and Expression in CHO Cells

The vector pC1 is used for the expression of MIP-4 protein. Plasmid pC1is a derivative of the plasmid pSV2-dhfr (ATCC® Accession No. 37146).Both plasmids contain the mouse DHFR gene under control of the SV40early promoter. Chinese hamster ovary- or other cells lackingdihydrofolate activity that are transfected with these plasmids can beselected by growing the cells in a selective medium (alpha minus MEM,Life Technologies) supplemented with the chemotherapeutic agentmethotrexate. The amplification of the DHFR genes in cells resistant tomethotrexate (MTX) has been well documented (see, e.g., Alt, F. W.,Kellems, R. M., Bertino, J. R., and Schimke, R. T., 1978, J. Biol. Chem.253:1357–1370, Hamlin, J. L. and Ma, C. 1990, Biochem. et Biophys. Acta,1097:107–143, Page, M. J. and Sydenham, M. A. 1991, Biotechnology Vol.9:64–68). Cells grown in increasing concentrations of MTX developresistance to the drug by overproducing the target enzyme, DHFR, as aresult of amplification of the DHFR gene. If a second gene is linked tothe DHFR gene it is usually co-amplified and over-expressed. It is stateof the art to develop cell lines carrying more than 1,000 copies of thegenes. Subsequently, when the methotrexate is withdrawn, cell linescontain the amplified gene integrated into the chromosome(s).

Plasmid pC1 contains for the expression of the gene of interest a strongpromoter of the long terminal repeat (LTR) of the Rouse Sarcoma Virus(Cullen, et al., Molecular and Cellular Biology, March 1985:438–4470)plus a fragment isolated from the enhancer of the immediate early geneof human cytomegalovirus (CMV) (Boshart et al., Cell 41:521–530, 1985).Downstream of the promoter are the following single restriction enzymecleavage sites that allow the integration of the genes: BamHI, followedby the 3′ intron and the polyadenylation site of the rat preproinsulingene. Other high efficient promoters can also be used for theexpression, e.g., the human β-actin promoter, the SV40 early or latepromoters or the long terminal repeats from other retroviruses, e.g.,HIV and HTLVI. For the polyadenylation of the mRNA other signals, e.g.,from the human growth hormone or globin genes can be used as well.

Stable cell lines carrying a gene of interest integrated into thechromosomes can also be selected upon co-transfection with a selectablemarker such as gpt, G418 or hygromycin. It is advantageous to use morethan one selectable marker in the beginning, e.g., G418 plusmethotrexate.

The plasmid pC1 is digested with the restriction enzyme BamHI and thendephosphorylated using calf intestinal phosphates by procedures known inthe art. The vector is then isolated from a 1% agarose gel.

The DNA sequence encoding MIP-4, ATCC® No. 75675, is amplified using PCRoligonucleotide primers corresponding to the 5′ and 3′ sequences of thegene:

The 5′ primer has the sequence:

(SEQ ID NO:49) 5′ AAA GGA TCC GCC ACC ATG AAG GGC CTT GCA AGC 3′         BamHI  KOZAKcontaining the underlined BamH1 restriction enzyme site and a portion ofthe sequence encoding the MIP-4 protein of FIG. 3 (SEQ ID NO:5).Inserted into an expression vector, as described below, the 5′ end ofthe amplified fragment encoding human MIP-4 provides an efficient signalpeptide. An efficient signal for initiation of translation in eukaryoticcells, as described by Kozak, M., J. Mol. Biol. 196:947–950 (1987) isappropriately located in the vector portion of the construct.

The 3′ primer has the sequence:

(SEQ ID NO:50) 5′ AAA GGA TCC TCA GGC ATT CAG CTT CAG 3′         BamHI   Stopcontaining the Asp718 restriction site followed by nucleotidescomplementary to a portion of the MIP-4 coding sequence set out in FIG.3 (SEQ ID NO:5), including the stop codon.

The amplified fragments are isolated from a 1% agarose gel as describedabove and then digested with the endonucleases BamH1 and Asp718 and thenpurified again on a 1% agarose gel.

The isolated fragment and the dephosphorylated vector are then ligatedwith T4 DNA ligase. E. coli HB101 cells are then transformed andbacteria identified that contained the plasmid pC1 inserted in thecorrect orientation using the restriction enzyme BamH1. The sequence ofthe inserted gene is confirmed by DNA sequencing.

Transfection of CHO-DHFR-cells

Chinese hamster ovary cells lacking an active DHFR enzyme are used fortransfection. Five μg of the expression plasmid C1 are cotransfectedwith 0.5 μg of the plasmid pSVneo using the lipofecting method (Felgneret al., supra). The plasmid pSV2-neo contains a dominant selectablemarker, the gene neo from Tn5 encoding an enzyme that confers resistanceto a group of antibiotics including G418. The cells are seeded in alphaminus MEM supplemented with 1 mg/ml G418. After 2 days, the cells aretrypsinized and seeded in hybridoma cloning plates (Greiner, Germany)and cultivated from 10–14 days. After this period, single clones aretrypsinized and then seeded in 6-well petri dishes using differentconcentrations of methotrexate (25 nM, 50 nM, 100 nM, 200 nM, 400 nM).Clones growing at the highest concentrations of methotrexate are thentransferred to new 6-well plates containing even higher concentrationsof methotrexate (500 nM, 1 μM, 2 μM, 5 μM). The same procedure isrepeated until clones grow at a concentration of 100 μM.

The expression of the desired gene product is analyzed by Western blotanalysis and SDS-PAGE.

EXAMPLE 6

A. Expression of Recombinant M-CIF in COS Cells

The expression of plasmid, CMV-M-CIF HA is derived from a vectorpcDNAI/Amp (Invitrogen) containing: 1) SV40 origin of replication, 2)ampicillin resistance gene, 3) E. coli replication origin, 4) CMVpromoter followed by a polylinker region, a SV40 intron andpolyadenylation site. A DNA fragment encoding the entire M-CIF precursorand a HA tag fused in frame to its 3′ end was cloned into the polylinkerregion of the vector, therefore, the recombinant protein expression isdirected under the CMV promoter. The HA tag correspond to an epitopederived from the influenza hemagglutinin protein as previously described(Wilson, H., et al., Cell 37:767 (1984)). The infusion of HA tag to ourtarget protein allows easy detection of the recombinant protein with anantibody that recognizes the HA epitope.

The plasmid construction strategy is described as follows:

The DNA sequence encoding for M-CIF, ATCC® # 75572, was constructed byPCR using two primers: the 5′ primer 5′-GGAAAGCTTATGAAGATTCCGTGGCTGC-3′(SEQ ID NO:51) contains a HindIII site followed by 20 nucleotides ofM-CIF coding sequence starting from the initiation codon; the 3′sequence 5′-CGCTCTAGATCAAGCGTAGTCTGGGACGTCGTATGGGTAGTTCTCCTTCATGTCCTTG-3′ (SEQ ID NO:52)contains complementary sequences to Xba I site, translation stop codon,HA tag and the last 19 nucleotides of the M-CIF coding sequence (notincluding the stop codon). Therefore, the PCR product contains a HindIIIsite, M-CIF coding sequence followed by HA tag fused in frame, atranslation termination stop codon next to the HA tag, and an XbaI site.The PCR amplified DNA fragment and the vector, pcDNAI/Amp, were digestedwith HindIII and XbaI restriction enzyme and ligated. The ligationmixture was transformed into E. coli strain SURE (Stratagene CloningSystems, La Jolla, Calif.) the transformed culture was plated onampicillin media plates and resistant colonies were selected. PlasmidDNA was isolated from transformants and examined by restriction analysisfor the presence of the correct fragment. For expression of therecombinant M-CIF, COS cells were transfected with the expression vectorby DEAE-DEXTRAN method. (J. Sambrook, E. Fritsch, T. Maniatis, MolecularCloning: A Laboratory Manual, Cold Spring Laboratory Press, (1989)). Theexpression of the M-CIF-HA protein was detected by radiolabeling andimmunoprecipitation method. (E. Harlow, D. Lane, Antibodies: ALaboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, (1988)). Cellswere labeled for 8 hours with ³⁵S-cysteine two days post transfection.Culture media were then collected and cells were lysed with detergent(RIPA buffer (150 mM NaCl, 1% NP-40, 0.1% SDS, 1% NP-40, 0.5% DOC, 50 mMTris, pH 7.5). (Wilson, H., et al., Cell 37:767 (1984)). Both celllysate and culture media were precipitated with a HA specific monoclonalantibody. Proteins precipitated were analyzed on 15% SDS-PAGE gels.

B. Cloning and Expression in CHO Cells

The vector pC1 is used for the expression of M-CIF protein. Plasmid pC1is a derivative of the plasmid pSV2-dhfr (ATCC® Accession No. 37146).Both plasmids contain the mouse DHFR gene under control of the SV40early promoter. Chinese hamster ovary- or other cells lackingdihydrofolate activity that are transfected with these plasmids can beselected by growing the cells in a selective medium (alpha minus MEM,Life Technologies) supplemented with the chemotherapeutic agentmethotrexate. The amplification of the DHFR genes in cells resistant tomethotrexate (MTX) has been well documented (see, e.g., Alt, F. W.,Kellems, R. M., Bertino, J. R., and Schimke, R. T., 1978, J. Biol. Chem.253:1357–1370, Hamlin, J. L. and Ma, C. 1990, Biochem. et Biophys. Acta,1097:107–143, Page, M. J. and Sydenham, M. A. 1991, Biotechnology Vol.9:64–68). Cells grown in increasing concentrations of MTX developresistance to the drug by overproducing the target enzyme, DHFR, as aresult of amplification of the DHFR gene. If a second gene is linked tothe DHFR gene it is usually co-amplified and over-expressed. It is stateof the art to develop cell lines carrying more than 1,000 copies of thegenes. Subsequently, when the methotrexate is withdrawn, cell linescontain the amplified gene integrated into the chromosome(s).

Plasmid pC1 contains for the expression of the gene of interest a strongpromoter of the long terminal repeat (LTR) of the Rouse Sarcoma Virus(Cullen, et al., Molecular and Cellular Biology, March 1985:438–4470)plus a fragment isolated from the enhancer of the immediate early geneof human cytomegalovirus (CMV) (Boshart et al., Cell 41:521–530, 1985).Downstream of the promoter are the following single restriction enzymecleavage sites that allow the integration of the genes: BamH1, followedby the 3□ intron and the polyadenylation site of the rat preproinsulingene. Other high efficient promoters can also be used for theexpression, e.g., the human β-actin promoter, the SV40 early or latepromoters or the long terminal repeats from other retroviruses, e.g.,HIV and HTLVI. For the polyadenylation of the mRNA other signals, e.g.,from the human growth hormone or globin genes can be used as well.

Stable cell lines carrying a gene of interest integrated into thechromosomes can also be selected upon co-transfection with a selectablemarker such as gpt, G418 or hygromycin. It is advantageous to use morethan one selectable marker in the beginning, e.g., G418 plusmethotrexate.

The plasmid pC1 is digested with the restriction enzyme BamH1 and thendephosphorylated using calf intestinal phosphates by procedures known inthe art. The vector is then isolated from a 1% agarose gel.

The DNA sequence encoding M-CIF, ATCC® No. 75572, is amplified using PCRoligonucleotide primers corresponding to the 5′ and 3′ sequences of thegene:

The 5′ primer has the sequence:

(SEQ ID NO:53) 5′ AAA GGA TCC GCC ACC ATG AAG ATC TCC GTG GCT 3′         BamHI  KOZAKcontaining the underlined BamH1 restriction enzyme site and the sequenceof M-CIF of FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:1). Inserted into an expression vector, asdescribed below, the 5′ end of the amplified fragment encoding humanM-CIF provides an efficient signal peptide. An efficient signal forinitiation of translation in eukaryotic cells, as described by Kozak,M., J. Mol. Biol. 196:947–950 (1987) is appropriately located in thevector portion of the construct.

The 3′ primer has the sequence:

(SEQ ID NO:54) 5′ AAA GGA TCC TCA GTT CTC CTT CAT GTC CTT 3′         BamHI Stopcontaining the Asp718 restriction site and a portion of the M-CIF codingsequence set out in FIG. 2 (SEQ ID NO:1), including the stop codon.

The amplified fragments are isolated from a 1% agarose gel as describedabove and then digested with the endonucleases BamH1 and Asp718 and thenpurified again on a 1% agarose gel.

The isolated fragment and the dephosphorylated vector are then ligatedwith T4 DNA ligase. E. coli HB101 cells are then transformed andbacteria identified that contained the plasmid pC1 inserted in thecorrect orientation using the restriction enzyme BamH1. The sequence ofthe inserted gene is confirmed by DNA sequencing.

Transfection of CHO-DHFR-cells

Chinese hamster ovary cells lacking an active DHFR enzyme are used fortransfection. Five μg of the expression plasmid C1 are cotransfectedwith 0.5 μg of the plasmid pSVneo using the lipofecting method (Felgneret al., supra). The plasmid pSV2-neo contains a dominant selectablemarker, the gene neo from Tn5 encoding an enzyme that confers resistanceto a group of antibiotics including G418. The cells are seeded in alphaminus MEM supplemented with 1 mg/ml G418. After 2 days, the cells aretrypsinized and seeded in hybridoma cloning plates (Greiner, Germany)and cultivated from 10–14 days. After this period, single clones aretrypsinized and then seeded in 6-well petri dishes using differentconcentrations of methotrexate (25 nM, 50 nM, 100 nM, 200 nM, 400 nM).Clones growing at the highest concentrations of methotrexate are thentransferred to new 6-well plates containing even higher concentrationsof methotrexate (500 nM, 1 μM, 2 μM, 5 μM). The same procedure isrepeated until clones grow at a concentration of 100 μM.

The expression of the desired gene product is analyzed by Western blotanalysis and SDS-PAGE.

EXAMPLE 7

Expression Pattern of M-CIF in Human Tissue

Northern blot analysis was carried out to examine the levels ofexpression of M-CIF in human tissues. Total cellular RNA samples wereisolated with RNAzol™ B system (Biotecx Laboratories, Inc. Houston,Tex.). About 10 ug of total RNA isolated from each human tissuespecified was separated on 1% agarose gel and blotted onto a nylonfilter. (Sambrook, Fritsch, and Maniatis, Molecular Cloning, ALaboratory Manual, Cold Spring Harbor Press, (1989)). The labelingreaction was done according to the Stratagene Prime-It kit with 50 ngDNA fragment. The labeled DNA was purified with a Select-G-50 column. (5Prime-3 Prime, Inc., Boulder, Colo.). The filter was then hybridizedwith radioactive labeled full length M-CIF gene at 1,000,000 cpm/ml in0.5 M NaPO₄, pH 7.4 and 7% SDS overnight at 65° C. After wash twice atroom temperature and twice at 60° C. with 0.5×SSC, 0.1% SDS, the filterwas then exposed at −70° C. overnight with an intensifying screen.

EXAMPLE 8

Expression Pattern of MPIF-1 in Human Tissue

Northern blot analysis was carried out to examine the levels ofexpression of MPIF-1 in human tissues. Total cellular RNA samples wereisolated with RNAzol™ B system (Biotecx Laboratories, Inc. 6023 SouthLoop East, Houston, Tex. 77033). About 10 ug of total RNA isolated fromeach human tissue specified is separated on 1% agarose gel and blottedonto a nylon filter. (Sambrook, Fritsch, and Maniatis, MolecularCloning, Cold Spring Harbor Press, (1989)). The labeling reaction isdone according to the Stratagene Prime-It kit with 50 ng DNA fragment.The labeled DNA is purified with a Select-G-50 column. (5 Prime-3 Prime,Inc. 5603 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, Colo. 80303). The filter is thenhybridized with radioactive labeled full length MPIF-1 gene at 1,000,000cpm/ml in 0.5 M NaPO₄, pH 7.4 and 7% SDS overnight at 65° C. After washtwice at room temperature and twice at 60° C. with 0.5×SSC, 0.1% SDS,the filter is then exposed at −70° C. overnight with an intensifyingscreen.

EXAMPLE 9

Expression Pattern of MIP-4 in Human cells

Northern blot analysis was carried out to examine the levels ofexpression of MIP-4 in human cells. Total cellular RNA samples wereisolated with RNAzol™ B system (Biotecx Laboratories, Inc. 6023 SouthLoop East, Houston, Tex. 77033). About 10 ug of total RNA isolated fromeach human tissue specified was separated on 1% agarose gel and blottedonto a nylon filter. (Sambrook, Fritsch, and Maniatis, MolecularCloning, Cold Spring Harbor Press, (1989)). The labeling reaction wasdone according to the Stratagene Prime-It kit with 50 ng DNA fragment.The labeled DNA was purified with a Select-G-50 column. (5 Prime-3Prime, Inc. 5603 Arapahoe Road, Boulder, Colo. 80303). The filter wasthen hybridized with radioactive labeled full length MIP-4 gene at1,000,000 cpm/ml in 0.5 M NaPO₄, pH 7.4 and 7% SDS overnight at 65° C.After wash twice at room temperature and twice at 60° C. with 0.5×SSC,0.1% SDS, the filter was then exposed at −70° C. overnight with anintensifying screen. See FIG. 6.

EXAMPLE 10

Expression and Purification of Chemokine MPIF-1 Using a BaculovirusExpression System

SF9 cells were infected with a recombinant baculovirus designed toexpress the MPIF-1 cDNA. Cells were infected at an MOI of 2 and culturedat 28° C. for 72–96 hours. Cellular debris from the infected culture wasremoved by low speed centrifugation. Protease inhibitor cocktail wasadded to the supernatant at a final concentration of 20 μg/ml PefablocSC, 1 μg/ml leupeptin, 1 μg/ml E-64 and 1 mM EDTA. The level of MPIF-1in the supernatant was monitored by loading 20–30 μl of supernatant only15% SDS-PAGE gels. MPIF-1 was detected as a visible 9 Kd band,corresponding to an expression level of several mg per liter. MPIF-1 wasfurther purified through a three-step purification procedure: Heparinbinding affinity chromatography. Supernatant of baculovirus culturewas-mixed with ⅓ volume of buffer containing 100 mM HEPES/MES/NaOAc pH 6and filtered through 0.22 μm membrane. The sample was then applied to aheparin binding column (HE1 poros 20, Bi-Perceptive System Inc.). MPIF-1was eluted at approximately 300 mM NaCl in a linear gradient of 50 to500 mM NaCl in 50 mM HEPES/MES/NaOAc at pH 6; Cation exchangechromatography. The MPIF-1-enriched from heparin chromatography wassubjected to a 5-fold dilution with a buffer containing 50 mMHEPES/MES/NaOAc pH 6. The resultant mixture was then applied to a cationexchange column (S/M poros 20, Bio-Perceptive System Inc.). MPIF-1 waseluted at 250 mM NaCl in a linear gradient of 25 to 300 mM NaCl in 50 mMHEPES/MES/NaOAc at pH 6; Size exclusion chromatography. Following thecation exchange chromatography, MPIF-1 was further purified by applyingto a size exclusion column (HW50, TOSO HAAS, 1.4×45 cm). MPIF-1fractionated at a position close to a 13.7 Kd molecular weight standard(RNase A), corresponding to the dimeric form of the protein.

Following the three-step purification described above, the resultantMPIF-1 was judged to be greater than 90% pure as determined fromcommassie blue staining of an SDS-PAGE gel (FIG. 9B).

The purified MPIF-1 was also tested for endotoxin/LPS contamination. TheLPS content was less than 0.1 ng/ml according to LAL assays(BioWhittaker).

EXAMPLE 11

Effect of Baculovirus-Expressed M-CIF and MPIF-1 on M-CSF andSCF-Stimulated Colony Formation of Freshly Isolated Bone Marrow Cells

A low density population of mouse bone marrow cells were incubated in atreated tissue culture dish for one hour at 37° C. to remove monocytes,macrophages, and other cells that adhere to the plastic surface. Thenon-adherent population of cells were then plated (10,000 cells/dish) inagar containing growth medium in the presence or absence of the factorsshown in FIG. 14. Cultures were incubated for 10 days at 37° C. (88% N₂,5% CO₂, and 7% O₂) and colonies were scored under an invertedmicroscope. Data is expressed as mean number of colonies and wasobtained from assays performed in triplicate.

EXAMPLE 12

Effect of MPIF-1 and M-CIF on IL-3 and SCF Stimulated Proliferation andDifferentiation of Lin-population of Bone Marrow Cells

A population of mouse bone marrow cells enriched in primitivehematopoietic progenitors was obtained using a negative selectionprocedure, where the committed cells of most of the lineages wereremoved using a panel of monoclonal antibodies (anti cdllb, CD4, CD8,CD45R, and Gr-1 antigens) and magnetic beads. The resulting populationof cells (lineage depleted cells) were plated (5×10⁴ cells/ml) in thepresence or absence of the indicated chemokine (50 ng/ml) in a growthmedium supplemented with IL-3 (5 ng/ml) plus stem cell factor (SCF) (100ng/ml). After seven days of incubation at 37° C. in a humidifiedincubator (5% CO₂, 7% O₂, and 88% N₂ environment), cells were harvestedand assayed for the HPP-CFC, and immature progenitors. In addition,cells were analyzed for the expression of certain differentiationantigens by FACScan. Colony data are expressed as mean number ofcolonies +/−SD) and were obtained from assays performed in six dishesfor each population of cells (FIG. 15).

EXAMPLE 13

MPIF-1 Inhibits Colony Formation in Response to IL-3, M-CSF, and GM-CSF

Mouse bone marrow cells were flushed from both the femur and tibia,separated on a ficoll density gradient and monocytes removed by plasticadherence. The resulting population of cells were incubated overnight inan MEM-based medium supplemented with IL-3 (5 ng/ml), GM-CSF (5 ng/ml),M-CSF (10 ng/ml) and G-CSF (10 ng/ml). These cells were plated at 1,000cells/dish in agar-based colony formation assays in the presence of L-3(5 ng/ml), GM-CSF (5 ng/ml) or M-CSF (5 ng/ml) with or without M-CIF at50 ng/ml. The data is presented as colony formation as a percentage ofthe number of colonies formed with the specific factor alone. Twoexperiments are shown with the data depicted as the average of duplicatedishes with error bars indicating the standard deviation for eachexperiment (FIG. 17).

EXAMPLE 14

Expression via Gene Therapy

Fibroblasts are obtained from a subject by skin biopsy. The resultingtissue is placed in tissue-culture medium and separated into smallpieces. Small chunks of the tissue are placed on a wet surface of atissue culture flask, approximately ten pieces are placed in each flask.The flask is turned upside down, closed tight and left at roomtemperature over night. After 24 hours at room temperature, the flask isinverted and the chunks of tissue remain fixed to the bottom of theflask and fresh media (e.g. Ham's F12 media, with 10% FBS, penicillinand streptomycin, is added. This is then incubated at 37° C. forapproximately one week. At this time, fresh media is added andsubsequently changed every several days. After an additional two weeksin culture, a monolayer of fibroblasts emerge. The monolayer istrypsinized and scaled into larger flasks.

pMV-7 (Kirschmeier, P. T. et al, DNA 7:219–25 (1988) flanked by the longterminal repeats of the Moloney murine sarcoma virus, is digested withEcoRI and HindIII and subsequently treated with calf intestinalphosphatase. The linear vector is fractionated on agarose gel andpurified, using glass beads.

The cDNA encoding a polypeptide of the present invention is amplifiedusing PCR primers which correspond to the 5′ and 3′ end sequencesrespectively. The 5′ primer containing an EcoRI site and the 3′ primerhaving contains a HindIII site. Equal quantities of the Moloney murinesarcoma virus linear backbone and the EcoRI and HindIII fragment areadded together, in the presence of T4 DNA ligase. The resulting mixtureis maintained under conditions appropriate for ligation of the twofragments. The ligation mixture is used to transform bacteria HB101,which are then plated onto agar-containing kanarnycin for the purpose ofconfirming that the vector had the gene of interest properly inserted.

The amphotropic pA317 or GP+aml2 packaging cells are grown in tissueculture to confluent density in Dulbeccol's Modified Eagles Medium(DMEM) with 10% calf serum (CS), penicillin and streptomycin. The MSVvector containing the gene is then added to the media and the packagingcells are transduced with the vector. The packaging cells now produceinfectious viral particles containing the gene (the packaging cells arenow referred to as producer cells).

Fresh media is added to the transduced producer cells, and subsequently,the media is harvested from a 10 cm plate of confluent producer cells.The spent media, containing the infectious viral particles, is filteredthrough a millipore filter to remove detached producer cells and thismedia is then used to infect fibroblast cells. Media is removed from asub-confluent plate of fibroblasts and quickly replaced with the mediafrom the producer cells. This media is removed and replaced with freshmedia. If the titer of virus is high, then virtually all fibroblastswill be infected and no selection is required. If the titer is very low,then it is necessary to use a retroviral vector that has a selectablemarker, such as neo or his.

The engineered fibroblasts are then injected into the host, either aloneor after having been grown to confluence on cytodex 3 microcarrierbeads. The fibroblasts now produce the protein product.

EXAMPLE 15

In Vitro Myeloprotection

As demonstrated above, MPIF-1 is a potent inhibitor of the LowProliferative Potential Colony-Forming Cell (LPP-CFC), a myeloidprogenitor that gives rise to granulocyte and monocyte lineages. Todemonstrate that MPIF-1 provides protection for LPP-CFC from thecytotoxicity of the cell cycle acting chemotherapeutic drug,lineage-depleted populations of cells (Lin− cells) were isolated frommouse bone marrow and incubated in the presence of multiple cytokineswith or without MPIF-1. After 48 hours, one set of each culture received5-Fu and the incubation was then continued for additional 24 hours, atwhich point the numbers of surviving LPP-CFC were determined by aclonogenic assay. As shown in FIG. 21A, ˜40% of LPP-CFC were protectedfrom the 5-Fu-induced cytotoxicity in the presence of MPIF-1, whereaslittle protection (<5%) of LPP-CFC was observed in the absence of MPIF-1or in the presence of an unrelated protein. High Proliferative PotentialColony-Forming Cells (HPP-CFC) were not protected by MPIF-1 under thesame culture conditions, demonstrating specificity of the MPIF-1protective effect.

Similar experiments were performed using the chemotherapeutic agent,Ara-C instead of 5-Fu. As shown in FIG. 21B, dramatic protection ofLPP-CFC by both from wild type MPIF-1 and a mutant MPIF-1 (i.e.,mutant-1, see Example 17 below for description of this mutant). Thus,MPIF-1 is able to protect LPP-CFC from the cytotoxicity induced by bothchemotherapeutic drugs, 5-Fu and Ara-C.

EXAMPLE 16

In Vivo Myeloprotection

The in vitro myeloprotection results suggest that myelotoxicity elicitedby the cytotoxic drugs, a severe side effect observed in cancer patientsundergoing chemotherapy, might be ameliorated if the critical cell typeswithin the bone marrow could be protected by MPIF-1 during the period ofaction of the chemotherapeutic drugs. To demonstrate in vivomyeloprotection, two types of experiments were performed in mice. In oneexperiment, a group of mice (Group-4) were injected (I.P.) daily forthree days, at 24 hour intervals, with 1.0 mg/Kg MPIF-1, and on thethird day these mice were also injected (I.P.) with 5-Fu at 150 mg/Kg.Animals injected with either saline (Group-1), MPIF-1 alone (Group-2),or 5-Fu alone (Group-3) served as controls. Then, four animals from eachof the groups were sacrificed at 3, 6, and 10 days post 5-Fuadministration to determine White Blood Cell (WBC) counts in theperipheral blood. As shown in the FIG. 22, injection of MPIF-1 alone hadlittle effect on the WBC counts. As expected, 5-Fu treatment resulted ina dramatic reduction in the circulating WBC counts on day 6 post 5-Fu.Significantly, animals treated with MPIF-1 prior to 5-Fu administrationexhibited about two fold higher WBC counts in the blood compared toanimals treated with 5-Fu alone. Thus, treatment of mice with MPIF-1prior to 5-Fu results in the accelerated recovery from neutropenia.

Hematopoietic stem and multipotential progenitor cells in the bonemarrow are responsible for restoring all the hematopoietic lineagesfollowing chemotherapy. In normal individuals, these cells divide lessfrequently, and are, therefore, spared from a single dose of thechemotherapeutic drug. However, these cells are killed if a second doseof the drug is administered within three days after the first dosebecause the critical progenitor cell types in the marrow are rapidlydividing during this period.

To demonstrate that MPIF-1 is able to protect these cell types in thebone marrow, the following experiment was performed. The experimentalwas performed using three groups of mice (6 animals per group) that weretreated as follows: Group-1, injected with saline on days 1, 2, and 3;Group-2, injected with 5-Fu on days 0 and 3; and Group-3, injected with5-Fu on days 0 and 3 and MPIF-1 on days 1, 2, and 3. (See FIG. 23.) Bonemarrow was harvested on days 6 and 9 to determine HPP-CFC and LPP-CFCfrequencies using a clonogenic assay well known to those of skill in theart. The results demonstrate that administration of MPIF-1 prior to thesecond dose of 5-Fu results in a rapid recovery of the HPP-CFC andLPP-CFC frequencies by day 9 compared to animals treated with 5-Fualone. (See, FIG. 24.)

EXAMPLE 17

Studies with the MPIF-1 Mutants

A number of MPIF-1 variants that are truncated from the N-terminus havebeen identified and characterized. The amino terminal sequences of thesevariants as determined by Edman degradation are presented in the FIG.25. For example, Mutants-2, -3, -7, and -8 arose spontaneously duringthe purification of the mature form of MPIF-1 and this preparation iscalled Preparation K0871. Similarly, Mutants-2, -3, -4, and -5 werediscovered in another batch of the purified MPIF-1 preparation(Preparation HG00300-B7). Since it was not possible to purify thesevariants from one another, Preparations K0871 and HG00300-B7 were usedas is in the experiments described below. Mutant-6, which is identicalto Mutant-3 with respect to the amino terminal sequence except for theN-terminal methionine, was generated by in vitro mutagenesis. Mutant-1,which is identical to the wild type except for the N-terminalmethionine, was also generated by mutagenesis. In addition, analternatively spliced form of MPIF-1 (Mutant-9), the cDNA clone of whichencodes for a protein of 137 amino acids (FIG. 26A) (SEQ ID NO:11) wasdiscovered (See, FIG. 25). Comparison of the amino acid sequence forMutant-9's with that of MPIF-1 reveals an insertion of 18 amino acidsbetween residues 45 and 46 in the MPIF-1 sequence and a loss of arginine46 of MPIF-1 (FIG. 26B). The following summarizes the biologicalactivities of these MPIF-1 mutant proteins.

Intracellular Calcium mobilization. In the foregoing Examples, MPIF-1protein has been shown to mobilize calcium in monocytes. The wild typeand mutant MPIF-1 proteins were tested for their ability to inducemobilization of intracellular calcium in human monocytes using humanMIP-1α as a positive control. The experiment was performed as follows:Human monocytes were isolated by elutriation and loaded withIndo-1/acetoxymethylester by incubating 1×10⁶ cells in 1 ml of in HBSScontaining 1 mM CaCl₂, 2 mM MgSO₄, 5 mM glucose and 10 mM HEPES, pH 7.4plus 2.5 mM Indo-1/acetoxymethylester for 30 min at 37° C. Cells werethen washed with HBSS and resuspended in the same buffer at 5×10⁵cells/ml and stimulated with various concentrations of the indicatedproteins at 37° C. The fluorescent signal induced in response to changesin intracellular calcium ((Ca++)i) was measured on a Hatchi F-2000fluorescence spectrophotometer by monitoring Indo-1 excitation at 330 nmand emission at 405 and 485 nm. The results are shown in FIG. 27.

The results demonstrate that preparations K0871, HG00300-B7, andMutant-9 are ten-fold more active than the wild type, whereas Mutants-6is indistinguishable from the wild type and Mutant-i is about two-foldmore active than the wild type. (See, FIG. 27). Since MIP-1α and MPIF-1are 45% identical with respect to the primary amino acid sequence, itwas of interest to determine whether they interacted with the samereceptor. To explore this possibility, the ability of MPIF-1 todesensitize MIP-1α-induced calcium mobilization was studied. FIGS. 28Aand 28B show that MIP-1α and the MPIF-1 wild type protein candesensitize each others ability to mobilize calcium in monocytes, butnot MCP-4 (another beta-chemokine).

In similar experiments, preparations K0871, HG00300-B7, and Mutants-1,-6, and -9 were able to block MIP-1α induced calcium mobilization. Thisexperiment was performed as follows: Calcium mobilization response ofhuman monocytes to the indicated proteins at 100 ng/ml was measured asindicated above for the experiment disclosed in FIG. 27. Fordesensitization studies, monocytes were first exposed to one factor andwhen the response to the first treatment returned to baseline a secondfactor was added to the same cells. No response to the second factor isindicated by the (−) sign and a stimulatory response to the first factorby a (+) sign. (See, FIG. 29).

Thus, MPIF-1 and its mutant variants appear to interact with or share acomponent of the cell surface receptor for MIP-1α. Recent demonstrationthat the MIP-1α receptor serves as a cofactor in facilitating the entryof HIV into human monocytes and T-lymphocytes raises an interestingpossibility that MPIF-1 or its variants might interfere with the processof HIV entry into the cells.

Chemotaxis. Chemotaxis of human peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC)fraction (consisting mainly of lymphocytes and monocytes) was measuredin response to various concentrations of MPIF-1 and its variants in a96-well neuroprobe chemotaxis chambers. The experiment was performed asfollows: cells were washed three times in HBSS with 0.1% BSA (HBSS/BSA)and resuspended at 2×10⁶/ml for labeling. Calcein-AM (Molecular Probes)was added to a final concentration of 1 mM and the cells were incubatedat 37° C. for 30 minutes. Following this incubation, the cells werewashed three times in HBSS/BSA. Labeled cells were then resuspended to8×10⁶/ml and 25 ml of this suspension (2×10⁵ cells) dispensed into eachupper chamber of a 96 well chemotaxis plate. The chemotactic agent wasdistributed at various concentrations in the bottom chamber of eachwell. The upper and the bottom chambers are separated by a polycarbonatefilter (3–5 mm pore size; PVP free; NeuroProbe, Inc.). Cells wereallowed to migrate for 45–90 minutes and then the number of migratedcells (both attached to the bottom surface of the filter as well as inthe bottom chamber) were quantitated using a Cytofluor 11 fluorescenceplate reader (PerSeptive Biosystems). Values represent concentrations atwhich peak activity was observed with the relative fold induction overbackground indicated in parentheses.

The results, shown in FIG. 30, demonstrate that preparations K0871 andHG00300-B7 are more potent inducers of chemotaxis than the wild type,whereas Mutants-1 and -6 were indistinguishable from the wild type.

Effects on colony formation by LPP-CFC. To determine the impact ofMPIF-1 variants on colony formation by LPP-CFC, a limiting number ofmouse bone marrow cells were plated in soft agar containing mediumsupplemented with multiple cytokines with or without variousconcentrations of MPIF-1 variants. The experiment was performed asfollows: a low density population of mouse bone marrow cells were plated(1,500 cells/3.5 cm diam. dish) in agar containing medium with orwithout the indicated MPIF-1 variants at various concentrations, but inthe presence of the following recombinant murine cytokines IL-3 (5ng/ml), SCF (100 ng/ml), IL-1 alpha (10 ng/ml), and M-CSF (5 ng/ml).Dishes were then incubated in a tissue culture incubator for 14 days atwhich point LPP-CFC colonies were scored under an inverted microscope.Data presented in FIG. 31 are pooled from several different experimentswhere each condition was assayed in duplicates.

The results demonstrate that the effective concentration required for50% of maximal inhibition in the case of preparations K0871 andHG00300-B7 were 20- to 100-fold lower than that of the wild type and forMutant-6 it was 2- to 10-fold lower. (See, FIG. 31). Thus, deletion ofthe N-terminal amino acids of MPIF-1 protein results in an increasedpotency of the molecule.

EXAMPLE 18

M-CIF Protection of Lipopolysaccharide-Induced Lethal Sepsis

Septic shock, a disease with significant morbidity and mortality inhumans, results from uncontrollable release of cytokines in response toblood-borne bacterial infection. Bacterial endotoxins are recognized asa major factor in the pathogenesis of Gram-negative septic shock(Morrison & Ryan, Annu. Rev. Med. 38:417 (1987); Wolff & Benett, N.Engl. J. Med. 291:733 (1974)), which appears to be mediated bymacrophages in response to endotoxins for the production of TNF-a andother cytokines (Freudenberg et al., Infect. Immun. 51:891 (1986),Tracey et al., Nature (Lond). 330:662 (1987)).

M-CIF is a new member of the beta-chemokine family with no in vitrochemotactic activity to monocytes/macrophages and some degree ofchemotactic activity to T lymphocytes. It is inactive on most leukocytesexcept that it induces monocyte/macrophages for intracellular Ca⁺⁺change via receptors shared with MIP-1α and RANTES (Schulz-Knappe etal., J. Exp. Med. 183:295 (1996)). In addition, M-CIF has been shown tohave a strong inhibitory effect on M-CSF-induced promonocytic colonyformation (Kreider et al., Abstract for The International Society forInterferon and Cytokine Research. Geneva, Switzerland, 1996).

In the present study, we examine the effect of M-CIF onendotoxin-induced septic shock in animal models. In some experiments, tobypass the known natural resistance of mice to the effect of bacterialtoxins (Peavy et al., J. Immunol. 105:1453 (1970)), we increased theirsensitivity by pretreatment with D-galactosamine (Galanos et al., Proc.Natl. Acad. Sci. USA. 76:5939 (1979); Lehmann et al., J. Exp. Med.165:657 (1987)). We show that systemic treatment of potentially septicmice with M-CIF significantly prevented LPS-induced lethal shock.

Materials and Methods

Chemicals and reagents. The endotoxins LPS (derived from E. coli0127:B8) and D-galactosamine were purchased from Sigma Chemical Co. (StLouis, Mo.). Recombinant human M-CIF was produced utilizing threedifferent vector systems: baculovirus, E. coli and CHO cells, forprotein expression and purification. Final protein preparations for invivo usage contained more than 90% M-CIF as determined by SDS-PAGEanalysis and had an endotoxin level less than 4.0 EU/mg.

TABLE 2 Batches and vectors of M-CIF used in experiments % PurityEndotoxin Batch (SDS- level Buffer content M-CIF Vector No. PAGE)(EU/mg) (NaOAc; NaCl) 1. Baculovirus B8 >95 4.0  40 mM; pH 5.5; 500 mM2. Baculovirus B9 >95 0.2  40 mM; pH 5.5; 150 mM 3. Baculovirus B11 >902.4  40 mM; pH 5.5; 150 mM 4. E. coli E1 95 0.04  40 mM; pH 6.0; 400 mM5. CHO Cl >95 0.75  50 mM; pH 6.5; 500 mM

Animals. These experiments were conducted with Balb/c and CF-i micepurchased from Harlan Sprague Dawley (Indianapolis, Ind.) and Balb/cscid/scid (SCID) mice purchased from the Animal Production Facility atNational Cancer Institute/Charles River (Frederick, Md.). All mice wereused at 8–12 weeks of age and were maintained on a standard lab dietwith free access to tap water. Animals were housed under controlledconditions in plastic microisolator cages with filter tops in a roomwith a 12 hour light cycle (6 am to 6 pm, light) and monitored 22° C.temperature and 65% humidity for at least one week before use inexperiments. SCID mice had all bedding and water autoclaved and foodirradiated before use.

Experimental design. Lethal sepsis was induced in mice with i.p.injection of LPS at various doses dissolved in normal saline on day 0with or without prior (1 hour before LPS) D-gal sensitization. M-CIFfrom various vectors/batches at different doses was given i.p. daily for3 consecutive days on day −1, day 0 (1 hour before LPS) and day 1. Micereceiving buffer (40 mM sodium acetate, pH 5.5; 150 mM NaCl) serve asthe disease control. Animals were monitored for morbundity and morbidity3 times/day after LPS challenge for as long as 120 hours after LPSchallenge. Percent surviving mice is calculated as: number of livingmice/total mice×100%.

Results

Effect of M-CIF in two animal models of septic shock in Balb/c mice. Thefirst model of lethal shock was induced in mice with LPS (25 mg/kg,i.p.). In this model, 85% of the animals died 52 hours after LPSinjection. M-CIF (3 mg/kg, i.p.) daily treatment for 3 days preventedlethality as much as 40% compared with the buffer control (FIG. 32). Thesecond model of lethal sepsis was induced by injecting mice with LPS (1ug/mouse, i.p.) one hour after D-gal (20 mg/mouse, i.p.) sensitizationand all animals died within 8 hours after LPS administration.Pretreatment of mice with M-CIF (1 mg/kg, i.p.) for 3 days in a similardosing regiment prevented 50% lethality in comparison with salinecontrol, and single dosing treatment only prevented lethality in 25% ofthe mice. In addition, the combination treatment of M-CIF with eitherLPS

(1 ug/mouse) or D-gal (20 mg/mouse) caused no sign of morbidity andmoribundity in animals suggesting that the endotoxin level in M-CIFpreparation is negligible (Table 3).

TABLE 3 Survival within M-CIF ip D-gal ip LPS ip NaCl ip (living/total)Group Strain 1 mg/kg 20 mg 1 ug 0.1 ml 8 hr 11 hr 22 hr 1 BALB/c − + +−1, 0, +1 0/4 0/4 ND 2 BALB/c 0 + + − 2/4 1/4 ND 3 BALB/c −1, 0, +1 + +− 2/4 2/4 ND 4 BALB/c −1, 0, +1 − + − 4/4 4/4 ND 5 BALB/c −1, 0, +1 + −− 4/4 4/4 ND

Mice were injected for 3 consecutive days 1 day prior to LPS on day −1,1 hr prior to LPS on day 0 and 1 day post LPS on day 1 (−1,0,+1) or 1 hrprior to LPS on day 0 only (0). ND=not done.

Preventive effect of M-CIF on sepsis is independent of animal strains.CF-1 mice were also used in the D-gal-sensitized LPS-induced lethalshock model. Unlike Balb/c mice, only 50% of the CF-1 mice suffered fromlethality by 11 hours post LPS in the saline control group andadditional M-CIF daily dosing for 3 consecutive days prevented all ofthe mice from dying (Table 4). These results suggest that human M-CIFmay be very close to the murine homologue and the protective effectM-CIF on sepsis is a broad phenomenon rather than animalstrain-selective.

TABLE 4 Survival within D-gal LPS (living/total) M-CIF ip ip 20 ip 1NaCl ip 22 Group Strain 1 mg/kg mg ug 0.1 ml 8 hr 11 hr hr 1 CF-1 − + +−2, −1, 0 4/4 2/4 2/4 2 CF-1 −2, −1, 0 + + − 4/4 4/4 4/4 3 CF-1 −2, −1,0 − + − 5/5 5/5 5/5

Mice were injected for 3 consecutive days 2 days prior to LPS on day −2,1 day prior to LPS on day −1 and 1 hr prior to LPS on day 0 (−2,−1,0).

Preventive effect of M-CIF on septic shock is dependent on LPS dose. Ina large scale experiment, Balb/c mice were challenged i.p. one dose ofLPS (25 mg/kg), and the degrees of lethality in this group was 90% (FIG.33). Pretreatment of M-CIF daily at 10 mg/kg for 3 consecutive daysprotected as much as 70% (FIG. 36).

Dose-dependent effect of M-CIF on lethal sepsis. This large scaleexperiment was based on 25 mg/kg of LPS in Balb/c mice. 100% lethalitywas induced in the buffer control group within 48 hours after LPSinjection In contrast, there was still 40% survival in the mice treatedwith 1 mg/kg of M-CIF in the same period of time and by day 5 all micedied in this group. Moreover, M-CIF at 3 and 10 mg/kg doses prevented50% and 65% of mice from lethal shock, respectively (FIG. 34).

M-CIF is capable of preventing sepsis in Balb/c SCID mice. SCID mice,which have a deficiency in B and T lymphocytes, were injected i.p. with20, 30, 40 or 50 mg/kg of LPS to determine the optimal degree oflethality. Unlike the normal Balb/c mice, no deaths occurred in the miceinjected with 20 mg/kg LPS with or without M-CIF treatment (n=8). Only30% lethality was observed in the 30 mg/kg LPS group and additionaltreatment with 3 mg/kg of M-CIF protected all of the SCID mice fromshock. As the LPS dose was further increased to 40 mg/kg, 80% mortalitywas induced in the buffer control group of the immunodeficient mice andadditional treatment of M-CIF at 3 mg/kg for three consecutive daysprotected 40% of the mice from lethality (FIGS. 35A and 35B). Once theLPS dose was given at 50 mg/kg, just like normal Balb/c mice, all of theSCID mice died in the buffer control group within 24 hours; and none ofthe 5 animals could be protected by additional M-CIF treatment.

Consistent protective effect of M-CIF from different vector preparationson sepsis. M-CIF proteins, prepared from E. coli and CHO expressionvectors were tested in LPS-induced lethal sepsis in Balb/c mice.Compared with the buffer control which showed 100% lethality within 48hours after 25 mg/kg LPS challenge, M-CIF (1 mg/kg) derived from the CHOvector saved as much as 60% of the mice from death during the same timeperiod and 50% 3 days after LPS injection. Moreover, the same dose ofthe protein from the E. coli vector also prevented 25% of the mice fromlethal shock. However, this preparation of M-CIF seems less potent thanthe materials derived from the other two vectors, suggesting that theremay be a significant change during the protein expression andpurification process (FIG. 36).

EXAMPLE 19

M-CIF Modulation in Renal Injury

TNF-α has been shown to be involved in the pathogenesis of several typesof glomerular injury (Martin, et al., Clin. Exp. Immunol. 2:283–288(1995); Ortiz, et al., Adv. Nephrol. Necker. Hosp. 24:53–77 (1995);Karkar, et al., Kidney Int. 44:967–973 (1993); Nikolic-Paterson, et al.,Kidney Int. 45:S79-S82 (1994); Egido, et al., Kidney Int. 43:S59–S64(1993)) and may play a role in tubulointerstitial nephritis, fibrosis,and renal allograft rejection (Baud, et al., Miner. Electrolyte Metab.21:336–341 (1995); Tang, et al., Lab. Invest. 70:631–638 (1994); Wilson,in The Kidney, Brenner, ed., Philadelphia, W. B. Saunders Company, p.1253 (1996); Perkins, et al., in The Kidney, Brenner, ed., Philadelphia,W.B. Saunders Company, p. 2576 (1996)). To investigate the efficacy ofM-CIF in modifying the onset and progression of renal diseases, animalmodels are utilized for crescentic glomerulonephritis, focal andsegmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), and drug induced interstitialnephritis.

A model of anti-GBM disease is induced in a strain of rats (WKY)particularly prone to the development of glomerular crescents (Huang etal., Kidney Int. 46:69–78 (1994); Bolton et al., Kidney Int. 44:294–306,(1993)). The antibody used in this study is produced in female NewZealand White rabbits. The rabbits are immunized repeatedly with thebasement membrane-rich sediment of kidney (Schreiner, et al., J. Exp.Med. 147:369–384 (1978)). The immune serum are heat-inactivated at 56°C. for 30 min and absorbed with rat red blood cells and the resultantserum called nephrotoxic serum (NTS). Normal male WKY rats (125–150 g)receive a single intravenous injection of a subnephritogenic dose ofNTS. The dose is chosen such that immediate glomerular injury is notcaused in Lewis rats.

According to known methods, administration of NTS to VVKY rats causesmacrophages to infiltrate the glomeruli within 30 minutes and toincrease in number over a 10 day period. Glomerular hypercellularity isapparent within 48 hours and by day 6 there is necrosis and the presenceof early crescent formation. Ten days after administration of NTS themajority of the glomeruli will exhibit a diffuse and proliferativeglomerulonephritis.

To test the efficacy of M-CIF to alter disease progression, rats receiveNTS and then are treated daily with an intraperitoneal injection ofM-CIF daily or placebo. The disease progression is monitored by dailycollection of urine and serum for assessment of proteinuria and TNF-□levels, respectively. At various time points ranging from 30 minutes to10 days after NTS administration, rats are sacrificed and the identityof the infiltrating cells is assessed by immunohistological examinationof frozen sections using commercially available monoclonal antibodiesspecific for macrophages and T cells.

A model of chronic aminonucleoside nephrosis is used as a prototype ofprogressive focal and segmental glomerulosclerosis. In this model,macrophages infiltrate the renal cortex in which are found increasedlevels of TNF-α and elevated expression of the endothelin receptor gene(Diamond, et al., Am. J. Pathol. 141:887–894 (1992); Diamond et al.,Lab. Invest. 64:21–28 (1991); Nakamura, et al., J. Am. Soc. Nephrol.5:1585–1590 (1995)). Male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 125–150 g areused for these studies. These rats receive a single intravenousinjection of puromycin aminonucleoside (50 mg/kg; Sigma Chemical Co, St.Louis, Mo.) through the right jugular vein over a period of 3 minutes.Within 2 weeks the animals develop proteinuria, severetubulointerstitial abnormalities, and exhibit an influx of macrophages.This period of proteinuria will abate and then reappear by 18 weeks atwhich time 44% of the glomeruli will exhibit focal and segmentalglomerulosclerosis (Diamond, et al., Kidney Int. 32:671–677 (1987)).

To test the ability of M-CIF to prevent this progressive renal injury,rats are injected intravenously with puromycin aminonucleoside and thentreated with a daily intraperitoneal injection of either M-CIF orplacebo. Proteinuria and serum levels of TNF-□are monitored at selectedintervals over the 18 week study. At various time points rats aresacrificed and the renal cortical infiltrate examined on sections ofkidneys using commercially available monoclonal antibodies tomacrophages and T cells. The degree of morphologic abnormalities areassessed on standard paraffin sections stained with hematoxylin andeosin by two individuals in a blinded fashion and by using acomputerized morphometric unit.

A model of cell-mediated immune injury to the renal tubules leading togranuloma formation is used to evaluate the efficacy of M-CIF toameliorate drug-induced interstitial nephritis. Male Brown Norway ratsweighing 140–180 g are used in this model as previously reported(Rennke, et al., Kidney Int. 45:1044–1056 (1994)). A haptenic molecule(ABA) is used as the target antigen. To produce the immunogen (ABA-KLH),31.4 mg of p-Arsanilic acid (Eastman Kodak Co., Rochester, N.Y.) aredissolved in 2.5 ml of 1N HCl and then diazotized by the slow additionof sodium nitrite, resulting in activated ABA. A solution of keyholelimpet hemocyanin (KLH) (Calbiochem Corp, La Jolla, Calif.) is preparedby dissolving 500 mg in 20 ml of borate buffered saline and the pH isadjusted to 9.2. The diazotized arsanilic acid is added slowly and after60 minutes the mixture dialyzed against phosphate buffered saline. Theresultant ABA-KLH is frozen in aliquots at −20° C. until use.

Rats are immunized subcutaneously at the base of tail with 1 mg ofABA-KLH emulsified in complete Freund's adjuvant containing 5 mg/ml ofH37Ra mycobacterium tuberculosis (Difco laboratories, Detroit, Mich.).Ten days after this immunization, the left kidney is perfused throughthe renal artery successively with 1–2 ml of phosphate buffered saline,containing 0.05 mg/ml verapamil, 2 ml of activated ABA (4 mM solution inborate buffered saline solution at pH 8.1), and 1 ml of phosphatebuffered saline containing 0.05 mg/ml of verapamil.

To accomplish this, rats are anesthetized, placed on a heated operatingtable, and a laparotomy performed. The left renal vessels are isolatedand loose snares placed around the left renal vein and the abdominalaorta. The left renal artery is cannulated with a 30 gauge needle andthe snares around the aorta and renal vein closed. Ex vivo perfusion ofthe left kidney then occurs at a rate of 1.1 ml/min and the effluent isthen drained through a puncture of the temporarily ligated left renalvein. After hemostasis is restored and the ligatures released,re-perfusion of the kidney occurs within 1–2 min. Within 24 hours a mildbut diffuse inflammatory cell infiltrate is produced that is composed ofpolymorphonuclear leukocytes and mononuclear cells. By day 5 monocytesand macrophages predominate. At this time (day 5), 75% of the renalcortex is involved by a granulomatous inflammation.

To test the efficacy of M-CIF in this model, M-CIF or placebo isadministered intraperitoneally daily. Rats are sacrificed at varioustime points, their serum levels of TNF-α quantitated, and the amount ofrenal cortex involved in the inflammatory process estimated on standardparaffin sections stained with hematoxylin and eosin using acomputerized morphometric unit. The identity of the infiltratinginflammatory cells are identified on histological sections usingcommercially available monoclonal antibodies to monocytes/macrophagesand T cells. M-CIF is expected to provide reduced inflammation in renalinjuries.

EXAMPLE 20

Protection of Chronic Joint Inflammation in Adjuvant Arthritis in Ratsby M-CIF

In rheumatoid arthritis, pain and swelling can generally be controlledby currently available drugs, but it has been difficult to halt theprogressive joint destruction associated with this disease. Therefore,much effort has been directed at more specific inhibition of thecellular and molecular mechanisms underlying bone and cartilagedestruction. The Freund's adjuvant-induced arthritis model in ratsshares a number of features with the arthritis patient, from thepresence of a proliferative synovitis and swelling of the extremitiesultimately leading to cartilage and bone erosion (Pearson & Wood,Arthritis Rheum. 2:440 (1959); Jones & Ward, Arthritis Rheum. 6:23(1963)). As in rheumatoid arthritis in humans, macrophages areabundantly present in the inflamed synovial membrane of rats withadjuvant arthritis (Johnson et al., Arthritis Rheum. 29:1122 (1986)).Macrophages are thought to play a major role in arthritis, either aseffector cells of tissue destruction, by secreting tissue-degradingenzymes or pro-inflammatory cytokines (Lopex-Bote et al., ArthritisRheum. 31:769 (1988)), or by virtue of their immunoregulatory functionsin the course of antigen-driven responses (Unanue & Allen, Science236:551 (1987). This animal model has been used for the detection ofanti-inflammatory and immunosuppressive drugs by quantitating hind-pawswelling (as a measure of acute inflammation), and histopathologicalalterations in cartilage and bone for chronic joint damage. In thisstudy, we have tested the effect of M-CIF on both acute and chronicinflammatory arthritis in the adjuvant arthritis rat model.

On day 0 adult male Lewis rats (120–150 g) were injected intradermallyat the base of the tail with Freund's complete adjuvant, which wasprepared by adding Mycobacterium butyricum (Difco Lab, Detroit, Mich.)into mineral oil at a concentration of 5 mg/ml. M-CIF or its buffer wereinjected intraperitoneally to rats daily from day 0 to day 16 or fromday 0 to day 40 as described below. Indomethacin at a dose of 1 mg/kg orits methylcellulose vehicle were orally administered daily in othergroups of rats. Swelling of the hindpaws were measured using aplethysmometer chamber (Baxco Electronics, Troy, N.Y.). The hindpawvolume was expressed as the mean of the volumes of both hindpaws and asa percent change in paw volume.

At the end of experiment, the ankle and tarsal joints were excised andprocessed for histological evaluation. Two investigators evaluated thepathological changes and alterations of bone and cartilage in a blindedfashion using the following parameters: blood vessel dilation,fibrosis/fibroplasia, hyperplasia/hypertrophy, perivascular lymphoidaggregates, pannus formation, cartilage destruction, and bonedestruction. A subjective semiquantitive scoring system, used todifferentiate the degree and distribution of the changes, was defined asfollows: 0=normal; 0.5=slight; 1=moderate; 2=severe; and 3=very severe.

In the first experiment, the animals were treated from day 0 to day 16.Their ankles were swollen by day 14 (the first time period tested) andreached their maximal severity between day 16 and 20. After this timethe acute inflammation gradually subsided. The effect of M-CIF on ankleswelling is shown in FIG. 37. Both doses of M-CIF showed moderatereduction in paw swelling, however indomethacin was much more effectivein reducing the edema. In a pilot study the limbs from two animals fromeach group were processed for histopathological scoring and the resultsare shown in FIG. 38. Taking both the acute and chronic features intoaccount, animals treated with M-CIF from day 0 to day 16 showed asignificant reduction in total joint inflammation compared with thebuffer control group.

Based on these results, a second experimental protocol was utilized inwhich the rats were treated daily throughout the experiment (day 0 today 40). At the end of the study, limbs from five animals per groupswere processed for histological evaluation. When M-CIF was given dailyat a dose of 3 mg/kg, there was significant reduction in the chronicsynovitis (FIG. 39) and the bone and cartilage erosion (FIG. 40) whencompared with its buffer controls. Indomethacin failed to show anyefficacy in the histopathology of chronic arthritis. Therefore, M-CIFshowed a significant protective effect on the chronic features ofarthritis, most importantly the bone and cartilage erosion, althoughonly a mild effect on acute edema.

M-CIF treatment prevents developing type II Collagen-induced arthritisin DBA/1 mice. An emulsion was prepared using equal volumes of a 2 mg/mlsolution of bovine type II collagen and complete Freund's adjuvant.Female DBA/1LacJ mice, 5–6 weeks old were immunized intradermally at thebase of the tail with 100 μl of the emulsion. Eighteen days later, themice were divided into 3 groups of 10 mice and injectedintraperitoneally with 3 mg/ml of indomethacin, M-CIF, or a controlbuffer. This injection was repeated for 14 days. Two days after thestart of this treatment (which is 20 days after the start of theexperiment), the mice were challenged with a s.c. injection of 60 μg ofLPS in a total volume of 100 μl. The animals were examined and theirclinical presentation semiquantified for development of the arthritis bythe following scoring system:

$\frac{{Incidence} = {{number}\mspace{14mu}{of}\mspace{14mu}{mice}\mspace{14mu}{with}\mspace{14mu}{at}\mspace{14mu}{least}\mspace{14mu}{one}\mspace{14mu}{affected}\mspace{14mu}{paw}}}{{total}\mspace{14mu}{number}\mspace{14mu}{of}\mspace{14mu}{mice}} \times 100$Clinical severity score Description 0.5 One or more swollen digits. 1.0Entire paw swollen 2.0 Deformity observed after inflammation subsides.3.0 Ankylosis: total loss of joint function in the paw.

As shown in FIG. 41, about 70% mice developed acute paw edema by 4–10days post LPS challenge in both M-CIF and its buffer treated groups.However, the severity of this acute inflammation is less pronounced inM-CIF treated mice than that in the buffer group (FIG. 42). Over time,the buffer treated group's incidence and severity increased while M-CIFtreated animals improved. Indomethacin, used as positive control, wasalso effective in reducing both the incidence and severity as expected.

Discussion. Adjuvant and collagen induced arthritis are widely usedexperimental models of rheumatoid arthritis with common clinical andhistological features. In rheumatoid arthritis, pain and swelling cangenerally be controlled by currently available drugs, but it has beendifficult to halt the progressive joint destruction associated with thisdisease. Therefore, much effort has been directed at more specificinhibition of the cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying bone andcartilage destruction. The protective effect of M-CIF on chronicfeatures of arthritis, most importantly the bone and cartilage erosionwhich leads to joint deformity and destruction strongly suggests thatM-CIF has good potential as a therapeutic agent for chronic inflammatoryarthritis such as rheumatoid arthritis in human. Although M-CIF only hasa mild effect on acute edema, combinational treatment of M-CIF and NSAIDmay be beneficial for both acute phase arthritis such as pain andswelling and the progressive joint destruction. Thus, M-CIF is shown toprovide protection against the chronic features of arthritis, such asinflammation and pain.

EXAMPLE 21

Suppressive Effect of M-CIF on Systemic TNF-α Production

Septic shock is a disease with significant morbidity and mortality inhumans, which results from uncontrollable release of cytokines inresponse to blood-borne bacterial infection. Bacterial endotoxins arerecognized as a major factor in the pathogenesis of Gram-negative septicshock (Morrison & Ryan, Annu. Rev. Med. 38:417 1987; Wolff & Benett, N.Engl. J. Med. 291:733 (1974). It appears to be mediated by macrophagesin response to endotoxins for the production of TNF-a and othercytokines (Freudenberg et al, Infect. Immun. 51:891 (1986); Tracey etal., Nature (Lond). 330:662 (1987)).

Earlier work showed that systemic treatment of mice with M-CIFsignificantly prevented LPS-induced lethal shock in two animal models.Since TNF-a production is central in causing septic shock we askedwhether M-CIF interferes with the production of TNF-a and therebyprotects against TNF-mediated endotoxic shock in vivo.

In Vivo. Female Balb/c mice, 7–8 weeks old, were challenged with 25mg/kg of lipopolysaccharide (LPS) from E. coli serotype 0127:B8 (SigmaChemical Co., St. Louis, Mo.) in saline on Day 0. M-CIF or its bufferwere administered intraperitoneally 1 day before and 1 hour before theLPS injection. Groups of 4 mice were sacrificed at 1, 2, and 4 hoursafter LPS administration. Sera was obtained from the retrorbital plexusand the TNF-a levels determined using an ELISA kit purchased fromGenzyme Corp., Cambridge, Mass. The assay was performed as described bythe manufacturer. Each sample was diluted 1:4 and assayed in duplicatewells and the results analyzed with an unpaired T test. Data areexpressed as mean values+SEM.

As shown in FIG. 43, serum TNF-a levels in the buffer control group ishighest at one hour post LPS injection and then quickly declinesafterwards. In contrast, mice given 3 mg/kg of M-CIF had significantlyless TNF-a in their serum at one hour post LPS than the buffer controlgroup. Animals treated with 1 mg/kg of M-CIF had reduced levels but thisdid not attain statistical significance.

The inhibitory effect of M-CIF on systemic TNF-a production is expectedto be one aspect of the mechanism by which M-CIF protects mice fromLPS-induced septic shock, and this effect would be beneficial fortreating autoimmune inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritisand osteoarthritis.

In vitro. Female Balb/c mice, 4–6 weeks old were put into 2 groups often animals per group. The groups were either injected intraperitonealywith vehicle control or injected with M-CIF at 3 mg/kg for 2 consecutivedays. One hour after the second injection, the mice were sacrificed andperitoneal cavity lavage performed to collect the resident cells. Thecells were then washed and resuspended at a density of 1×10⁶ cells/ml inculture medium (RPMI 1640/20% FBS). The cells were then plated in 48well plates and incubated overnight in the presence or absence of LPS (1and 10 ng/ml). After 18 hours, the supernatants from each well werecollected and stored frozen until use. The ELISA for the determinationof TNF-α content in the supernatants was performed as specified by themanufacturer (Genzyme Diagnostics, Cambridge, Mass.). As seen in FIG.44, cells isolated from M-CIF treated animals and then treated with LPSin vitro secrete statistically significant lower amounts of TNF-α thando cells isolated from control mice.

M-CIF thus has the capacity to inhibit TNF-α production in vivo. Thisactivity would be beneficial for both acute and chronic inflammation.Taken together with the data on the circulating TNF-α levels presentedabove, this can explain one aspect of the mechanism by which M-CIFprotects from LPS induced sepsis. Since increased levels of TNF-α havebeen correlated with a wide variety of immune cell diseases orreactions, M-CIF treatment could be used on such disease states, asdescribed herein.

Recent studies have shown the efficacy of inhibiting TNF-α activity withthe use of antibodies to TNF-α or soluble TNF-α receptors. Thesediseases include acute pancreatitis, allograft rejection, non-insulindependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM), asthma, delayed hypersensitivityreactions in the skin, pulmonary fibrosis, and ischemia/reperfusioninjury. In contrast, TNF-α plays a paracrine role in liver regenerationand in some circumstances suppresses skin and cardiac allograftrejection. Thus, M-CIF or its agonists are expected to be beneficial insuch disease situations.

EXAMPLE 22

M-CIF as a Chemoattractant for T-Lymphocytes in Vivo

Female Balb/c mice, 4–6 weeks old were put into 4 groups of ten animalsper group. The groups were either untreated, injected intraperitoneallywith vehicle control or injected with M-CIF at 1 mg/kg or 3 mg/kg for 6consecutive days. On day seven, the mice were sacrificed and peritonealcavity lavage performed to collect the resident cells. Total cellnumbers were calculated and the cells subjected to cell surface stainingusing the following panel of monoclonal antibodies: CD3, CD4, CD8, Mac1,GR1, B220, MHC class II, CD14, CD45, and CD5 (Pharmingen, San Diego,Calif.).

As shown in FIG. 45, the total cell numbers within the peritoneal cavityincreased 2–3 fold over untreated or vehicle treated controls. Thisappears to be due to an influx of T-lymphocytes as determined by cellsurface staining for CD4, CD5, and CD8. There is a dramatic increase inCD4 positive cells (FIG. 46) as well as CD5 and CD8 cells resulting in anet increase in the relative number of T-lymphocytes (FIG. 47 (2)). Inaddition, there is a significant increase in Mac1 positive, MHC class IInegative, subpopulation of cells within the peritoneal cavity with acorresponding decrease in the percentage of MHC class II positive, Mac1positive subpopulation of cells (FIG. 48). This is also reflected in thetotal number of MHC class II negative, Mac1 positive cells within theperitoneal cavity (FIG. 49).

M-CIF is thus shown to be a chemoattractant for T-lymphocytes in vivo.This could be for CD4, CD8 or both subpopulations of T-cells. Based onthis, M-CIF may be beneficial for disease states which would benefitfrom the attraction and/or activation of this population of immunecells. This would include bacterial or viral infection, cancer, and thelike. Also, if M-CIF has a specific effect on the Th1 or Th2 subclass ofCD4 lymphocytes, it could bias the normal production of cytokines fromthese cells and dramatically influence other immune cells such asmonocytes, macrophages, eosinophils, and other immune cells.

The fact that the MHC class II negative subpopulation of Mac1 positivecells increases in the M-CIF treated animals suggests that the monocytepopulation within these animals consists of a higher percentage ofnon-activated cells. This is consistent with the data showing that theperitoneal cells from the M-CIF treated animals produce less TNF-a inresponse to LPS.

EXAMPLE 23

In Vivo Stem Cell Mobilization Induced by MPIF-1

To demonstrate that MPIF-1 stimulates stem cell mobilization in vivo,the following experiment was performed. Six mice were used for eachtreatment group (C57Black 6/J, female, about 6 weeks old). The mice wereinjected (I.P.) with either saline (vehicle control) or MPIF-1 at 5μg/mouse. After 30 minutes, mice were bled and analyzed for WBC byCoulter counter. Then, blood from all six animals of each group waspooled and analyzed for the Gr.1+ cells and CD34.Sca-1+ double positivecells by FACScan. WBC counts are expressed as Mean±S.D. and FACScan dataas % of total cells. Since CD34.Sca-1+ double positive cells are thoughtto exhibit properties expected of the hematopoietic stem cells, theresults shown in FIG. 50 illustrate that MPIF-1 can be used as stem cellmobilizer.

EXAMPLE 24

Purification of M-CIF

Purification from CHO Expression System

Following expression of M-CIF in Chinese hamster ovary cells, theprotein was purified using the following procedure. All of thepurification procedures were performed at 5–10° C., unless otherwisespecified. The transfected CHO cells were grown in HGS-CHO-3 mediumusing the microcarrier culture system (cytodex I, Pharmacia) for 4 days.The conditioned media were harvested using low speed centrifugation toremove cells and cell debris. After pH was adjusted to 7.0 with aceticacid, the conditioned media was loaded onto a strong cation exchangecolumn (Poros HS-50, Perseptive Biosystems Inc.) pre-equilibrated withphosphate buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.0. The column was then washed withsame buffer until the absorbance at 280 nm was less than 0.01 O.D. (10CV). The desired protein was eluted by washing the column with 1M NaClin phosphate buffered saline, pH 7.0. Fractions were then analyzed bySDS-PAGE through 4–20% gradient gels to confirm the presence of thedesired polypeptide.

Those fractions containing M-CIF were then pooled and loaded onto a gelfiltration column of Superdex-75 resin (Pharmacia) equilibrated in“sizing buffer” comprising 50 mM sodium acetate and 150 mM NaCl, pH 6.0.The sample loaded was less than 10% (V/V) of the column volume. Afterallowing the sample to run into the column, the protein was eluted fromthe gel filtration matrix using the same buffer. Fractions werecollected and the absorbance at 280 nm of the effluent was continuouslymonitored. Fractions identified by A280 as containing eluted materialwere then analyzed by SDS-PAGE. Fractions containing M-CIF was eluted ina peak centered at 0.62 column volumes and pooled.

The pooled fractions from gel filtration chromatography was applied ontoa set of strong anion (Poros HQ-50, Perseptive Biosystems) and weakanion (Poros CM-20) exchange columns in a tandem mode. Both columns werepre-equilibrated and washed with 50 mM sodium acetate buffer, pH 6.0after sample loading. The cation exchange column (CM-20) was then washedwith 0.3M NaCl followed by a 0.3M to 0.8M NaCl gradient elution in thesame buffer system. The eluted fractions were analyzed through SDS-PAGEand fractions containing protein of interest were combined.

Following the purification steps described above, the resultant M-CIFwas of greater than 95% purity as determined from Commassie bluestaining of a SDS-PAGE gel. The purified protein was also tested forendotoxin/LPS contamination. The LPS content was less than 0.1 ng/mg ofpurified protein according to LAL assays.

An alternative purification procedure was also used to purify M-CIF. Theprocedure involves the following steps, and unless otherwise specified,all procedures were conducted at 5–10° C.

Upon completion of the production phase of a CHO culture, theconditioned media were obtained after cells/cell debris removal usinglow speed centrifugation. Following pH of the media being adjusted to pH7.0 by adding acetic acid, the media were loaded onto a strong cationexchange column (Poros HS-50, Perspective Biosystems, Inc.)pre-equilibrated with phosphate buffered saline (PBS), pH 7.0. Thecolumn was then washed with same buffer until the absorbance at 280 nmwas less than 0.01 O.D. (10 CV). The desired protein was eluted bywashing the column with 1M NaCl in phosphate buffered saline, pH 7.0.Fractions were then analyzed by SDS-PAGE through 4–20% gradient gels toconfirm the presence of the M-CIF.

Those fractions containing M-CIF were then pooled, followed by theaddition of 4 volumes of 10 mM sodium acetate, pH 6.5. The dilutedsample was then loaded onto a previously prepared set of tandem columnsof strong anion (Poros HQ-50, Perseptive Biosystems) and weak anion(Poros CM-20, Perceptive Biosystems) exchange resin. The columns wereequilibrated with 50 mM sodium acetate pH 6.5. The CM-20 column waswashed with 5 column volumes of 0.2 M NaCl, 50 mM sodium acetate, pH 6.5and eluted using a 10 column volume linear gradient ranging from 0.2MNaCl, 50 mM sodium acetate, pH 6.5 to 1.0M NaCl 50 mM sodium acetate, pH6.5. Fractions were collected under constant A280 monitoring of theeffluent. Those fractions containing the protein of interest (determinedby 4–20% SDS-PAGE) were then pooled.

The combined fractions containing M-CIF were then loaded (V/V, 5% of thecolumn volume) onto a sizing exclusion column (Superdex-75, Pharmacia)equilibrated with 100 mM NaCl, 50 mM sodium acetate, pH 6.5. Afterallowing the sample to run into the column, the protein was eluted fromthe gel filtration matrix using 100 mM NaCl, 50 mM sodium acetate, pH6.5. Fractions were collected and the absorbance at 280 nm of theeffluent was continuously monitored. Fractions identified to A₂₈₀ ascontaining the eluted material were then analyzed by SDS-PAGE. Fractionscontaining M-CIF was then pooled.

Following the three step purification procedure described above, theresultant M-CIF was of greater than 95% purity as determined fromCommassie blue staining of a SDS-PAGE gel. The purified protein was alsotested for endotoxin/LPS contamination. The LPS content was less than0.1 ng/mg of purified protein according to LAL assays.

Purification of M-CIF From E. coli

The purification involves the following steps, and unless otherwisespecified, all procedures were conducted at 4–10° C.

Upon completion of the production phase of the E. coli fermentation, thecell culture was cooled to 4–10° C. and the cells were harvested bycontinuous centrifugation at 15,000 rpm (Heraeus Sepatech). On the basisof the expected yield of protein per unit weight of cell paste and theamount of purified protein required, an appropriate amount of cellpaste, by weight, was suspended in a buffer solution containing 100 mMTris, 50 mM EDTA, pH 7.4. The cells were dispersed to a homogeneoussolution using a high shear mixer.

The cells were then lysed by passing the solution through microfluidizer(Microfluidics, Corp. or APV Gaulin, Inc.) twice at 4000–6000 psi. Thehomogenate was then mixed with NaCl solution to a final concentration of0.5 M NaCl, followed by centrifugation at 7000 g for 15 min. Theresulted pellet was washed again using 0.5M NaCl, 100 mM Tris, 50 mMEDTA, pH 7.4.

The washed inclusion body was solubilized with 1.5 M Guanidinehydrochloride (GuHCl) for 2–4 hours. After 7000 g centrifugation for 15min., pellet was discarded and the M-CIF-containing supernatant wasplaced at 4° C. overnight for further GuHCl extraction.

Following high speed centrifugation (30000 g) to remove the insolubleparticles, the GuHCl solubilized proteins were refolded by quicklymixing the GuHCl extraction with 20 volumes of buffer containing 50 mMsodium, pH 4.5, 150 mM NaCl, 2 mM EDTA by vigorous stirring. Therefolded diluted protein solution was set kept at 4° C. without mixingfor 12 hours prior to further purification steps.

To clarify the refolded M-CIF solution, a previously prepared tangentialfiltration unit equipped with 0.16 um membrane filter with appropriatesurface area (Filtron), equilibrated with 40 mM sodium acetate, pH 6.0was employed. The filtered sample was loaded onto a cation exchange ofporos HS-50 resin (Perseptive Biosystems). The column was washed with 40mM sodium acetate, pH 6.0 and eluted with 250 mM, 500 mM, 1000 mM, and1500 mM NaCl in the same buffer, in a stepwise manner. The absorbance at280 mm of the effluent was continuously monitored. Fractions werecollected and further analyzed by SDS-PAGE.

Those fractions contained desired protein was then pooled and mixed with4 volumes of water. The diluted sample was then loaded onto a previouslyprepared set of tandem columns of strong anion (Poros HQ-50, PerseptiveBiosystems) and weak anion (Poros CM-20, Perseptive Biosystems) exchangeresin. The columns were equilibrated with 40 mM sodium acetate, pH 6.0.Both columns were washed with 40 mM sodium acetate, pH 6.0, 200 mM NaCl.The CM-20 column was then eluted using a 10 column volume lineargradient ranging from 0.2 M NaCl, 50 mM sodium acetate, pH 6.0 to 1.0MNaCl, 50 mM sodium acetate, pH 6.5. Fractions were collected underconstant A280 monitoring of the effluent. Those fractions containing theprotein of interest (determined by 16% SDS-PAGE) were then pooled.

The resultant M-CIF was of greater than 95% purity after the aboverefolding and purification steps. No major contaminant bands wasobserved from the Commassie blue stained 16% SDS-PAGE gel when 5 ug ofpurified protein was loaded. The purified protein was also tested forendotoxin/LPS contamination. The LPS content was less than 0.1 ng/mlaccording to LAL assays.

EXAMPLE 25

M-CIF Inhibits M-CSF-Stimulated Colony Formation of Human and MouseCells in a Dose Dependent Manner

Progenitor cells are isolated and processed as described herein. Murinebone marrow cells are isolated from the femur and tibia, ficollseparated and depleted of plastic adherent cells. Both cell populationsare plated in agar containing medium in the presence of M-CSF (5 ng/ml)with or without M-CIF at the concentrations indicated. Data is expressedas mean number of colonies +/−S.D. from samples done in duplicate.

Clonogenic assays on mouse bone marrow cells. CFU-M colony formationassays is performed in a two-layered agar culture system. The bottomlayer is prepared in 3.5 cm diameter tissue culture dishes with 1 ml ofMEM medium supplemented with 20% FBS (Sigma Tissue Culture Products, St.Louis, Mo.), 0.5% Difco agar and 15 ng/ml of M-CSF in the presence orabsence of the indicated concentrations of M-CIF or a controlbeta-family chemokine. This layer is then overlayed with 0.5 ml ofmurine bone marrow cell suspension (10⁴ cells/dish) prepared in the agarmedium described above except that it contained 0.3% agar and nocytokines. The dishes are then incubated for seven days in a tissueculture incubator (37° C., 88% N₂, 5% CO₂, and 7% O₂) and CFU-M coloniesare scored under an inverted microscope.

Clonogenic assays on human CD34′ derived cells. Freshly purified CD34′cells (5×10⁴ cells/ml) are cultured for four days in Myelocult H5100growth medium (Stem Cell Technologies Inc., Vancouver, Canada)supplemented with human IL-3 (10 ng/ml) and human SCF (50 ng/ml). Theresulting populations of committed hematopoietic progenitors are countedand 1,000 cells in 1 ml of MethoCult medium (Stem Cell TechnologiesInc., Vancouver, BC, Canada are plated in 3.5 cm diameter tissue culturedishes with supplemented M-CSF (10 ng/ml) in the presence or absence ofthe indicated concentrations of M-CIF or a control beta-familychemokine. After fourteen days in incubator (37° C., 88% N₂, 5% CO₂, and7% O₂), the colonies are scored under an inverted microscope.

EXAMPLE 26

Evaluation of M-CIF in a Surgically-Induced Model Osteoarthritis inGuinea Pigs

To demonstrate that M-CIF slows the onset and progression ofosteoarthritis (OA), a surgically-induced model of OA in Hartley guineapig is used. The use of the guinea pig in experimental OA is awell-characterized, relevant and reproducible model of OA. This strainhas been shown to develop spontaneous osteoarthritis with age.Surgically-induced joint instability creates altered biomechanical loadsin the knee joint, leading to OA. Pathologic changes observed in thismodel are similar to those observed in human OA (Meacock, S. C. et al.,J. Exp. Pathol. 71(2):279–93 (1990), Bendele, A. M. et al., Vet Pathol.28:207–215 (1991), Jimenez, P. A. et al., Inflam. Res. 44(2):129–130(1995)).

Surgery is performed on eight week old male Hartley guinea pigs (n=5)anesthetized subcutaneously with ketamine (40 mg/kg), xylazine (5mg/kg), fentanyl (0.06 mg/kg) and post-operative buprenorphine (0.05mg/kg). Prior to surgery, guinea pigs are fasted for 12 hours. Animalsare kept on a heating pad during skin disinfection, surgery andpost-surgery. An incision is made with a #10 blade trough the jointcapsule of the right knee. The fascia over the medial meniscus isdissected, and the medial collateral ligament and medial incisionretracted. The anterior medial meniscus is isolated with a Tyrelmicro-dissecting hook and the anterior portion excised with a #15 blade.The joint capsule is sutured with continuous 5-0 Vicrylt. Two woundclips are used to close the skin and are then removed at 4 dayspost-surgery. The weights of the animals are determined at the beginningof the experiment and every two weeks thereafter.

M-CIF and placebo are administered daily (i.p) for six weeks commencingon the day of surgery. Used are: an untreated control, a placebo groupand M-CIF treated groups. Radiographs are taken at the end of the studyprior to euthanasia. At the end of the experiment, all animals areeuthanized with an overdose of sodium pentobarbital (300 mg/kg). Theknee joints are harvested, fixed in 10% formalin for 4 days anddecalcified in 20% formic acid in PBS (pH 7.2) for 4 days. Sections arecut at 5 intervals and stained with Safranin 0, Fast Green andHematoxylin.

Histopathologic evaluation is performed using the Mankin scoring system(Mankin H. J., Orth. Clin. North America 2:19–30 (1971).

EXAMPLE 27

Evaluation of M-CIF in a Peptidoglycan-Polysaccharide Polymer Model ofGranulomatous Enterocolitis in Rats

To demonstrate that M-CIF would slow the onset and progression ofgranulomatous enterocolitis in a surgically-induced model of colitis inLewis rats is used. The use of the Lewis rat in experimental colitis isa well characterized, relevant and reproducible model of enterocolitis.The Lewis stain of rats has been shown to be susceptible to theenterocolitis following surgical implantation ofpeptidoglycan-polysaccharide (PG-PS) in various areas of the distalileum, peyer's patches, cecum and distal colon. Surgically-implantedPG-PS creates an acute enterocolitis which peaks at 1–2 days, remainsquiescent for 7–9 days, and spontaneously reactivates by 12–17 days withan active inflammation which can persist for up to four months. (Elsonet al., Gastroenterol. 109:1344–1367 (1995)). Development of chronicinflammation is dependent on a T-cell mediated immune response, poorlydegradable PG-PS, and genetic host susceptibility (Sartor et al.,Methods: A Companion to Methods in Enzymology 9:233–247 (1996)). Immuneresponses observed in this model are similar to those observed in humanenterocolitis.

Surgery is performed on 130–170 g Lewis rats (n=10) anesthetizedsubcutaneously with ketamine (40 mg/kg), xylazine (5 mg/kg), fentanyl(0.06 mg/kg) and post-operative buprenorphine (0.05 mg/kg). Animals arekept on a heating pad during skin disinfection, surgery andpost-surgery. A 6–8 cm incision is made with a #10 blade through theabdomen to expose the ileum, cecum and colon. Rats are injectedintramurally (subserosally) with PG-APS (45 mg dry weight and 15 mgrhanmose/g body wt). At each site 0.05 ml (1/10 of the total dose) isinjected 2 and 4 cm proximal to the ileocecal valve, two distal peyerspatches, four midcecal sites, lymphoid aggregate at the cecal tip, andremoved at 4 days post-surgery. The weights of the animals aredetermined at the beginning of the experiment and every five daysthereafter. The extent of inflammation is assessed by morphologicalscoring of the extent of swelling of the ankle joint. Size of the anklejoint has been shown to be a reliable indicator of the presence ofinflammation in the intestines.

M-CIF and placebo will be administered (i.p.) daily for four weekscommencing on the day of surgery. There will be an untreated control, aplacebo group and M-CIF groups.

Two hours prior to euthanasia, rats are injected with BrdU (100 mg/kgi.p.). At the end of the experiment, all animals are killed using CO₂asphyxiation. Samples taken from distal ileum, cecum and distal colonare fixed in 10% formalin. Sections are cut and stained with H & E,mucicarmine, trichrome, and anti-BrdU antibodies. Histopathologicevaluation is performed using the Sartor scoring system. (Sartor, etal., Methods: A Companion to Methods in Enzymology 9:233–247 (1996).

EXAMPLE 28

MPIF-1 Treatment During 5-Fu Treatment Results in Faster Recovery ofPlatelets and Granulocytes

Two of the major complications resulting from chemotherapy areneutropenia (reduced blood neutrophil counts) and thrombocytopenia(reduced platelet counts). Granulocyte-Colony Simulating Factor (G-CSF)is currently used in the clinic to mitigate neutropenia. G-CSF is knownto stimulate colony formation by the Colony Forming Unit-Granulocyte(CFU-G) in vitro and stimulate granulocyte production in animal models.Thrombopoietin (Tpo) is in clinical trials for the purpose ofalleviating thrombocytopenia. Tpo is known to stimulate colony formationby Colony Forming Unit-Megakaryocyte (CFU-Meg) in vitro and stimulateplatelet production in experimentally induced thrombocytopenia inanimals. One of the major limitations of G-CSF in the clinic is that itis not effective in alleviating neutropenia in patients that aresubjected to multiple cycles of chemotherapy. This is likely due to thedepletion of CFU-G in the bone marrow, a target cell upon which G-CSFacts. Tpo might also suffer from the same fate as indicated by theinitial clinical trial results. Any agent that can prevent the depletionof G-CSF and Tpo target cells during chemotherapy would be of greatclinical value. The data shown below suggests that MPIF-1 could meetthis clinical need.

In the previous Examples, MPIF-1 has been shown to inhibit colonyformation by bipotential, granulocyte/monocyte myeloid progenitors invitro. In particular, Examples 15–16 provide data demonstrating thatMPIF-1 protects primitive, multipotential myeloid progenitors from 5-Fuinduced cytotoxicity in vitro and in vivo These multipotentialprogenitors are expected to give rise to more committed progenitors ofall the myeloid lineages including CFU-G and CFU-Meg. The followingexperiment was performed to demonstrate that MPIF-1 treatment during twoor three cycles of 5-Fu treatment results in faster recovery ofplatelets and granulocytes.

Materials and Methods: C57BL6 female mice (7–10 weeks old) with a meanbody weight 19.4 g (±1.1 S.D., n=150) were used. All mice were housedunder standard diet and housing conditions of dark/light cycle andtemperature throughout the course of the experiment. MPIF-1 preparation(HG00304-E6) was made in E. coli and represents the truncated form ofMPIF-1 lacking 23 N-terminal amino acids of the mature protein (i.e.,MPIF-1 Mutant-3 in FIG. 25 with an N-terminal Met added thereto).Clinical grade of G-CSF (Neupogen®) was purchased from the Shady GrovePharmacy, Rockville, Md. 20850 (Neupogen® is manufactured by Amgen Inc.,Amgen Center, Thousand Oaks, Calif. 91320). 5-Fluorouracil (5-Fu) waspurchased from Sigma Chemicals and it was freshly prepared by dissolvingin warm water just prior to use. MPIF-1 solution was freshly prepared bydilution in normal saline. Likewise, G-CSF was diluted in a bufferconsisting of 10 mM sodium acetate, 5% (wt/v) mannitol, 0.004% (v/v)Tween 80, pH 4.0. Appropriate fluorochrome conjugated rat monoclonalantibodies against mouse CD41a, Gra.1, and Mac.1 antigens were purchasedfrom Pharmingen.

Five groups of mice (30 mice per group) were treated as follows:

Group 1 was injected I.P. with 0.1 ml of normal saline on −2, −1, 0, 6,7, and 8 days to serve as normal control.

Group 2 was injected with I.P. with 0.2 ml of 5-Fu solution (at 100mg/kg body weight) on days 0 and 8.

Group 3 was injected with 5-Fu as in Group 2 and in addition 0.1 ml ofMPIF-1 solution (at 1.0 mg/Kg body weight) was injected I.P. on −2, −1,0, 6, 7, and 8 days.

Group 4 was injected with 5-Fu as in Group 2 and in addition 0.1 ml ofG-CSF solution (at 0.5 mg/Kg body weight) was injected I.P. on 1, 2, 3,9, 10, and 11 days.

Group 5 was injected with 5-Fu as in Group 2, MPIF-1 as in Group 3, andG-CSF as in Group 4.

Six animals from each of the groups were then analyzed on the indicateddays for monitoring platelet and granulocyte recovery at the level ofthe peripheral blood and the bone marrow. It should be noted that themice analyzed on 6 and 8 days post first 5-Fu did not receive secondtreatment with MPIF-1 or 5-Fu.

Peripheral blood was collected from the retroorbital sinus inEDTA-coated tubes and was immediately analyzed by FACS Vantage todetermine platelet (CD41a positive events) and granulocyte (Gra.1 andMac.1 double positive cells) counts. It should be noted that the methodof analysis and the species of animal employed here does not permitobtaining absolute counts. Instead, granulocytes are expressed aspercentage of total white blood cells and platelets were estimated asCD41a positive events per 15 seconds on the sorter. Mice were thensacrificed to obtain bone marrow cells using standard methods. Bonemarrow cells were also analyzed by FACS to monitor percentage of Gra.1and Mac.1 double positive populations of cells in the bone marrow. Sincethe stage at which these antigens begin to be expressed in thegranulocyte lineage is not precisely known, Gra.1 and Mac.1 doublepositive cells in the bone marrow are expected to be heterogenous withregards to the stage of their development and maturation potential.

Bone marrow was also analyzed to determine the frequency of clonogenicprogenitors using an in vitro clonogenic assay. Briefly, HighProliferative Potential Colony forming Cell (HPP-CFC) and LowProliferative Potential Colony Forming Cell (LPP-CFC) assay wasperformed in a two-layered agar culture system. The bottom layer wasprepared in 3.5 cm diameter dishes with 1 ml of MEM supplemented with20% FBS, 0.5% Difco agar, 7.5 ng/ml mIL-3, 75 ng/ml mSCF, 7.5 ng/mlhM-CSF and 15 ng/ml mIL-1α. This layer was then overlayed with 0.5 ml ofmurine bone marrow cell suspension to have 2,000 cells/dish in MEM with20% FBS and 0.3% agar. The top agar was allowed to solidify at roomtemperature for about 15 minutes. The dishes were then incubated for 14days in a tissue culture incubator (37° C., 88% N₂, 5% CO₂, and 7% O₂)and colonies were scored under an inverted microscope. In thisexperiment total colony counts are reported.

FACS data were generated by analyzing material obtained from threeanimals of each of the groups per time point, whereas the clonogenicassay was performed with cells obtained from six animals of each of thegroups per time point. Finally, data points for the day 1 group of theexperiment represents values obtained from the saline injected normalmice (Group 1).

Results: To monitor the recovery of platelets in the peripheral blood,the steady state levels of CD41a positive cells was determined by FACSVantage. As shown in FIG. 51, MPIF-1 treatment prior to 5-Fu (Group 3)resulted in a much faster and stronger recovery of platelets than thatobserved in mice treated with 5-Fu+ saline (Group 2). As expected thekinetics of platelet recovery in mice treated with G-CSF (Group 4) wasindistinguishable from that observed in mice treated 5-Fu+ saline. Also,administering G-CSF plus MPIF-1 to 5-Fu treated mice (Group 5) hadlittle effect on the overall steady state levels of platelets whencompared to that observed in mice treated with MPIF-1 alone (Group 3).Thus, MPIF pre-treatment of mice prior to the 5-Fu treatment resulted ina rapid recovery of platelets in the peripheral blood.

The recovery of granulocytes in the peripheral blood was monitored byquantitating the steady state levels of Gra.1 and Mac.1 double positivecells in the blood. As illustrated in the FIG. 52, 5-Fu treatment ofmice resulted in a sharp decrease in the steady state levels of Gra.1and Mac.1 double positive cells in the blood at six days after the firstas well as the second 5-Fu treatments. MPIF-1 pre-treatment had twobeneficial effects; the degree of neutropenia (the extent of depletionof Gra.1 and Mac.1 double positive cells) was much smaller and the rateof recovery was much faster compared to that observed in mice treatedwith 5-Fu+ saline (Group 2). As expected, the administration of G-CSFafter 5-Fu treatment (Group 4) resulted in a rapid recovery of Gra.1 andMac.1 double positive cells in the blood. However, the extent of therecovery from neutropenia in the G-CSF treated mice was notably smallerthan that observed in the MPIF-1 treated mice on day 8 (Group 3). Theeffect of administering MPIF-1 plus G-CSF (Group 5) on the granulocytedepletion and recovery was quite dramatic in that these mice displayedmuch higher steady state levels of Gra.1 and Mac.1 double positive cellsin the blood than that observed in mice treated with either MPIF-1 orG-CSF alone. Thus, as indicated in FIG. 52, it appears that MPIF-1 andG-CSF may exert additive effects when they are co-administered.

As indicated above, recovery at the level of the bone marrow wasmonitored by FACS Vantage method and clonogenic assay. Results obtainedwith FACS are illustrated in FIG. 53. As expected, the level of Gra.1and Mac.1 double positive population of cells in the 5-Fu treatedmarrows (Group 2) remained remarkably depressed from days 6 through 14and then recovered to normal level by day 16. This effect of 5-Fumediated depletion of Gra.1 and Mac.1 double positive cells wascompletely abrogated when mice were treated with MPIF-1 prior to 5-Fu(Group 3). Surprisingly, G-CSF (Group 4) was able to prevent thedepletion of the Gra.1 and Mac.1 double positive cells in response tothe first 5-Fu dose, but not the second. This is likely due to theavailability of G-CSF target cells and the timing of G-CSFadministration. A similar response was evident in mice that were treatedwith MPIF-1 plus G-CSF (Group 5), although the extent of recovery on day8 post first 5-Fu was much higher than that observed in mice treatedwith either MPIF-1 or G-CSF alone.

Data from the clonogenic assay are presented in FIG. 54. The frequencyof progenitors in the bone marrow remained depressed in response to 5-Futhroughout the fourteen days of the experiment period with a hint ofrecovery on day 16. This reduction in the frequency of the progenitorswas abrogated in mice that were treated with MPIF-1 prior to 5-Fu. Incontrast, G-CSF treatment of mice was not effective in sustaining thefrequency of progenitors found either in normal or MPIF-1 treatedmarrows. The effect of administering G-CSF plus MPIF-1 on the progenitorfrequency in the bone marrow appears to be complex.

EXAMPLE 29

Amelioration of Lupus Nephritis in MRL lpr/lpr Mice by rhM-CIF Treatment

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a multi-organ-associatedautoimmune disease characterized by the overproduction of pathogenicautoantibodies, and the formation of complement-fixing immune aggregatescapable of inducing life-threatening glomerulonephritis and vasculitis(Steinberg, A. D. and Klinman, D. M., Rheum. Dis. Clinics of No. Amer.14:25 (1988)).

MRL lpr/lpr mice, due to a mutation in the apoptotic fas receptor(Watanabe-Fukunaga, R., et al., Nature 356:314–317 (1992)),spontaneously develop an autoimmune disease with important similaritiesserologically and immunopathologically to human SLE (Andrews, B. S., etal., J. Exp. Med. 148:1198 (1978)). Extensive characterization of thismurine model has provided many insights into the pathology of humanlupus, including high autoantibody titers to a variety of autoantigens,glomerulonephritis, arthritis, vasculitis and premature death(Theofilopoulos, A. N. and Dixon, F. J., Immunol. Rev. 55:179 (1981);Tarkowski, A. et al., Clin. Exp. Immunol. 72:91 (1988)).

Abnormal macrophages and other cellular and molecular defects in MRLlpr/lpr mice are implicated in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease(Cohen, P. L. and Eisenberg, R. A., Annu. Rev. Immunol. 9:243–269(1991)). MRL lpr/lpr mice have an increased number of peritonealmacrophages, which are in a more activated stage than the macrophagesfrom normal mice (Kelly, V. E. and Roths, J. B., J. Immunol. 129:923(1982); Dang-Vu, A. P., et al., J. Immunol. 138:1757 (1987)). Inaddition, MRL lpr/lpr macrophages produce higher levels of theproinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1 and TNF-α. Macrophages are rarelypresent in normal renal glomeruli, but can be found in MRL lpr/lprglomeruli before proteinuria and are more prominent as theglomerulonephritis progresses (Boswell, J. M., et al., J. Immunol.141:3050 (1988)).

rhM-CIF, a new beta-chemokine, has weak chemotactic activity and isinactive on most leukocytes except that it induces monocyteintracellular Ca⁺⁺ flux via receptors shared with MIP-1α and RANTES(Schulz-Knappe, P., et al., J. Exp. Med. 183:295 (1996)). In addition,rhM-CIF has a strong selective inhibitory effect on M-CSF-inducedpromonocytic colony formation (Kreider, B. L., et al., “A beta-familychemokine which specifically inhibits M-CSF mediated colony formation.”Oral presentation at First Joint Meeting of the International CytokineSociety and the International Society for Interferon and CytokineResearch (1996)). Our early in vivo work demonstrated that rhM-CIF has asignificant protective effect on LPS- or live E. coli bacteria-inducedmacrophage-mediated lethal sepsis, which is at least in part due to itsreduction of TNFα and increase of IL-10 serum levels in mice (Zhang, J.,et al., “Selective modulation of TNF-α and IL-10” by rhM-CIF (HCC-1)correlated with its protective effect on LPS-mediated lethal sepsis inSCID mice. Oral and poster presentations at Keystone Symposia, The Roleof Chemokines in Leukocyte Trafficking and Disease (1997)). Asignificant ameliorative effect of rhM-CIF on moderate and progressivejoint damage has also been observed in both murine collagen-inducedarthritis and rat adjuvant arthritis models (Zhang, J., et al.,“Protection of Progressive Joint Destruction by rhM-CIF (HCC-1) in a RatModel of Adjuvant Arthritis.” Poster presentation at ILAR Congress ofRheumatology (1997); Sturm, B., et al., “Ameliorative effect of rhM-CIF(HCC-1) on collagen-induced arthritis in mice.” Abstract submitted for61 st National Meeting of American College of Rheumatology (1997)).

In the present study, we examined the possible effect of rhM-CIF on thisspontaneous lupus model in MRL lpr/lpr mice. Preventive treatment withrhM-CIF for the entire course of lupus nephritis developmentsignificantly ameliorated the glomerular lesions and nephrosclerosis,and may have protected kidney function by reducing protein castformation. Neither rhM-CIF nor methotrexate had any significant effecton premature death, probably as a consequence of the severity of diseasein other organs beside kidney.

Materials and Methods

Animals

Female MRL lpr/lpr mice were purchased from The Jackson Laboratory (BarHarbor, Me.) and maintained according to recommended standards at theHGS animal facility for at least one week before being employed inexperiments.

Chemicals

Amethopterin (methotrexate) was purchased from Sigma Chemicals (St.Louis, Mo.). Saline solution was obtained from Abbott Labs (NorthChicago, Ill.). Recombinant human M-CIF (batch B9) was expressed inbaculovirus vector and purified by SDS-PAGE with a molecular weight of8.677 Kd. The protein was then dissolved in a buffer consisting of 40 mMNaOAc, 150 mM NaCl, pH 5.5 with an endotoxin level less than 0.2 EU/mg.

Experimental Design

Fifty MRL lpr/lpr mice, 8–9 per group, were administered rhM-CIF inbuffer or methotrexate in saline (1 or 5 mg/kg, i.p.) daily,Monday-Friday, each week for 14 weeks beginning at 8 weeks of age whenthere is no sign of disease. Mice receiving buffer or saline served asthe disease control. Animals were monitored for clinical symptoms andmorbidity weekly or biweekly until the lethality rate reached 50% in thebuffer treated group. All of the remaining animals were sacrificed atthe end of the experiment for the histopathological evaluation ofkidneys.

Histopathology Analysis

Both kidneys were removed and immediately placed in 10% neutral bufferedformalin for the procedure of paraffin embedding and sectioning. Tissuesections were stained with hematoxylin and eosin, PAS and trichrome forcomprehensive examination. The pathological evaluation of the kidneylesions were conducted with a multi-blinded procedure. According to thegeneral impression after viewing all the slides, a subjective scoringsystem was employed that allowed differentiation of degree anddistribution of the changes by giving 0, +/−, +, ++, +++, ++++ to thefollowing histopathological features:

1) glomerular lesions such as irregular hypercellularity andenlargement, the basement membrane thickening, karyorrhexis, fibrosisand hyalinization, crescent formation and fibrosis of the Bowmancapsule;

2) tubular lesions including the formation of protein casts in thelumens of the tubules (for the convenience of assessment of the lesionseverity, protein cast formation was classified here, even though italso contributed to the increased permeability of the basement membraneof glomerular capillary tufts) and substantial atrophy and compensatoryhypertrophy and dilatation of the tubules;

3) the interstitial lesions including inflammatory infiltration,lymphocytic perivasculitis, interstitial fibrosis;

4) gross appearance such as granular nephrosclerosis.

The semiquantification analysis was done by using the following scoringsystems: 0=0; +/−=1; +=2; ++=4; +++=6; and ++++=8.

Upon completion of individual histopathological evaluation, the slideswere decoded and matched to each group for interpretation of thepathological changes with respect to the regimen of treatment.

Macrophage Immunohistochemical Analysis

Paraffin sections from MRL lpr/lpr kidneys were stained for macrophagesusing a specific rat monoclonal antibody against mouse (F4/80)macrophage antigen (Caltag Labs, San Francisco, Calif.) followed by astandard immunohistochemistry technique. The criteria for evaluating thedegree of macrophages infiltration in the kidney were similar to thosementioned above (0 to ++++).

Statistical Analysis

Percentage of surviving mice was calculated as number of livingmice/total mice×100%. Analysis of the histopathology data was performedonly for the groups with no less than 4 surviving mice at the end of theexperiment. Mean scores, SEM and P values for different pathologicalfeatures were calculated individually or in combination by InStatstatistical software.

Results

Effect of rhM-CIF on the Survival of MRL lpr/lpr Mice

Spontaneous autoimmune MRL lpr/lpr mice were treated with buffer ormethotrexate in saline (1 or 5 mg/kg, i.p.) daily, Monday-Friday eachweek for 14 weeks when the B11 batch of rhM-CIF was exhausted. Comparedwith the buffer treated group, which served as a disease developmentcontrol, rhM-CIF treatment showed a similar survival rate during the16-week-experiment period, except that at the end of the experiment whenthe buffer treated group reach 56% lethality, there was a 63% survivalrate in the rhM-CIF 1 mg/kg treated group (FIG. 55). Similar to rhM-CIFtreatment, the group treated with the low dose of methotrexate (1 mg/kg)showed a parallel pattern to the saline control group until the lastweek of the experiment when there was about 20% protection. However, thegroup treated with the high dose of methotrexate (5 mg/kg) showed anaccelerated death rate, which may be due to its accumulated toxicity(FIG. 56).

Reduction of Protein Casts in MRL lpr/lpr Kidney by rhM-CIF Treatment

Protein cast information as measured by histopathological evaluation wasselected as an alternative measure for proteinuria to assess renalfunction. Only three groups (buffer, 1 mg/kg of rhM-CIF andmethotrexate) had 4 mice surviving at the end of this pilot experiment,which qualified for their subsequent histology analysis. As shown inFIG. 57, the buffer control group revealed a great amount of the proteinand cellular casts in Henle's loops, the distal convoluted tubules, thecollecting tubules and the tubular lumens of MRL lpr/lpr kidneys. Incontrast, only a small amount of protein casts was found in the rhM-CIF(1 mg/kg) treated mice; and one mouse in the methotrexate (1 mg/kg)group showed a severe protein cast formation while the other three miceremained totally free of this pathological feature. The reduction in theformation of protein casts by rhM-CIF is statistically significant(p=0.02) when compared with the buffer group.

Ameliorative Effect of rhM-CIF on the Glomerular Lesions

The glomerular lesions, especially the lesions of capillary tufts andthe basement membrane of the glomeruli, are the essential features seenin this lupus model. Half of the surviving animals (two mice) in thebuffer control group showed extremely severe damage in almost all of thevisible glomeruli, which were represented by hyper-proliferation ofmacrophages in the Bowman's capsule and extensive formation ofcrescents; mesangial cell proliferation in the tufts demonstrated by PASstaining; karyorrhexis due to nuclear breakdown, thickening of thebasement membrane resulting in “wire-loop lesion”, leakage of red bloodcells to the Bowman's capsule, and fibrosis and/or hyalinization. Inaddition, complete or partially dysfunctional glomeruli extensivelyspread in the cortex region. Crescent formation, adhesion of theparietal and visceral layers, and fibrosis of the Bowman's capsule wereas severe as the glomerular lesions in terms of percentage. The othertwo mice in this group showed much less severe lesions. In contrast,most of the surviving mice (⅗) treated with rhM-CIF (1 mg/kg) showedabout 50% severity of the buffer controls, and the others (⅖) showedonly very mild damage or were without obvious glomerular lesions.Similar mild lesions were also seen in most of the surviving mice (¾)with methotrexate treatment, except that only one animal showedrelatively severe glomerular lesions. The reduced glomerular lesions inrhM-CIF treated mice are statistically significant (p=0.01) incomparison with the buffer control (FIG. 58).

rhM-CIF Retarded the Development of Nephrosclerosis

The progressive and long standing process of lupus glomerulonephritiseventually leads to nephrosclerosis due to focal atrophy and compensatedhypertrophy of glomeruli and tubules. This late stage feature was severein two of the four mice treated with buffer control, and the surface oftheir kidneys showed punctate scarring resembling grained leather. Theother two mice did not show such advanced changes. Comparatively, noneof the mice in rhM-CIF treated group showed obvious nephrosclerosis,except that milder atrophy of tubules was observed occasionally.Furthermore, only one mouse in the methotrexate group (n=4) developed anadvanced state of the sclerotic feature with the other three miceremaining free of nephrosclerosis. Statistical analysis indicates thatthe severity of nephrosclerosis in the buffer control was significantlyhigher than that of rhM-CIF and methotrexate treated groups (FIG. 59).

rhM-CIF Moderately Inhibited the Macrophage Infiltration in MRL lpr/lprKidney

The presence of macrophages in MRL lpr/lpr kidneys is an important signof progressive glomerulonephritis. Immunohistochemical analysis showedthat macrophages extensively infiltrated the kidney of the buffertreated mice. The severity was parallel to the other pathologicalfeatures as described above. The two mice with significant kidneylesions showed most severe macrophage infiltration. They appeared in theglomerular crescents mixed with the proliferating epithelial cells ofBowman's capsule, in the periglomerular area, interstitium of thenephrons and the areas of perivascular infiltrates. The other three micein this group showed moderate or mild macrophage infiltration which wasalso parallel to their lesion severity. However, two mice with mildhistopathological lesions from the methotrexate treated group revealedrelatively higher scores of macrophage infiltration. The most severemouse in this group also showed the most severe infiltration ofmacrophages. In the rhM-CIF group, the appearance of the macrophageseems moderately suppressed compared to the buffer group, even thoughthe p value was 0.08, marginally significant statistically.

Lack of Effect of rhM-CIF on Lymphocyte Infiltration and Perivasculitisin MRL lpr/lpr Kidney

Massive and diffuse infiltration of lymphoid cells in the interstitialtissue of the kidney is another prominent pathological feature in thisMRL lpr/lpr model. These infiltrates were seen mainly in theperivascular (larger arteries such as interlobular arteries or even thearcuate arteries) area, the periglomerular area, and the interstitium.The lymphoid cell infiltrates in the interstitium seem to be more severein the buffer control because of massive atrophic tubules. However, alarge amount of infiltrate was found in the periglomerular areas ofrhM-CIF and methotrexate treated mice, although their glomerular lesionswere very mild. The cell types of the infiltrates vary. In theperivascular area (especially around the larger arteries), most cellswere lymphoblasts and mononuclearblasts. The whole picture of theinfiltrates showed multiple cellular types of lymphoid cells, which weresimilar to the cellular classifications seen in the enlarged lymph nodes(data not shown). Semiquantification and comparison among buffer,rhM-CIF and methotrexate treated groups showed no obvious difference ofperivasculitis and periglomerulitis (FIG. 61).

Discussion

In this pilot experiment, protein cast formation evaluated by renalhistopathology at the end of experiment was selected as an alternativefeature to proteinuria to assess renal function. The preliminary resultsshowed that preventive treatment of rhM-CIF for 14 weeks during thecourse of lupus nephritis development, resulted in significant reductionof protein cast formation, and amelioration of the glomerular lesionsand nephrosclerosis in the 5–6 month old MRL lpr/lpr kidney. However,rhM-CIF showed little or no effect on nephritis and/orvasculitis-induced premature death.

The presence of abnormal activated macrophages in the MRL lpr/lpr renalglomeruli has been implicated in the pathogenesis of lupus nephritis;and increased level of M-CSF mRNA transcripts in the kidney and M-CSFprotein in the circulation of MRL lpr/lpr mice may be responsible formacrophage infiltration and activation (Yui, M. A., et al., Amer. J.Path. 139:255 (1991)). Although rhM-CIF treatment showed a moderateinhibition on macrophage infiltration in MRL lpr/lpr kidney, thepossible effect of rhM-CIF on M-CSF-mediated renal macrophage functionwhich causes tissue destruction remains unclear. However, previousstudies indicated that rhM-CIF is effective in (1) inhibitingM-CSF-induced promonocytic colony formation, (2) protecting LPS-inducedmacrophage mediated lethal sepsis, and (3) down-regulating TNF-α andup-regulating IL-10 systematically in vivo. All these consequences mayprovide supporting evidence for the ameliorative effect of rhM-CIF onlupus nephritis.

Massive infiltration of lymphocytes in the interstitial tissue of thekidney is a unique pathological feature of MRL lpr/lpr mice from humanSLE, which is caused by fas receptor deficiency in the clonal deletionof lymphocytes during any immune or autoimmune responses. Lack of effectof rhM-CIF on lymphocyte infiltration in the MRL lpr/lpr kidney suggeststhat rhM-CIF has no inhibiting effect on the migration, activation andclonal expansion of MRL lpr/lpr lymphocytes. Indeed, rhM-CIF has beenshown to be chemotactic for activated T lymphocytes in vitro.

Summary

Preliminary study showed that prolonged treatment of rhM-CIF, likemethotrexate, during the development of spontaneous autoimmune disease,significantly ameliorated the progression of lupus nephritis by reducingprotein cast formation, the glomerular lesions and eventuallynephrosclerosis in MRL lpr/lpr kidney. However, rhM-CIF, likemethotrexate, showed little or no effect on nephritis and/orvasculitis-induced premature death.

Summary Preclinical Pharmacology Tables

The following tables (Tables 5, 6, and 7) summarize the in vitro and invivo primary and secondary pharmacology studies.

Table Key for Batches Referenced in Tables 6, 7, and 9. MPIF-1 batchesare designated by a multi-component code which indicates the organismthe protein was expressed in and the form of the expressed product(e.g., mature, full-length, or a variant). Letters after a hyphen at theend of the designation indicate either the organism the protein wasexpressed in or the vector used for expression (i.e., B=baculovirus,C=CHO cells, E=E. coli). The last three digits preceding the hyphenindicate the form or variant of the protein expressed (i.e.,300=full-length MPIF-1, 301=the MPIF-1Δ17 variant, 302=mature MPIF-1with a methionine residue added to the amine terminus of the matureamino acid sequence, 304=the MPIF-1Δ23 variant, 31 l=full-lengthMPIF-1). Thus, the batch designation indicates the form of the expressedMPIF-1 protein, whether the protein will be secreted from the host cell,and the form of the secreted protein, if any. For example, HG00300-B5indicates that the full-length MPIF-1 protein was expressed using abaculovirus vector. Further, since MPIF-1 expressed using this system isprocessed by the insect host cells, the secreted form of this protein ismature MPIF-1. One exception to the above noted nomenclature occurs withbatch HG00300-B7. This batch contains a mixture of four different MPIF-1polypeptides. The inventors believe that these polypeptides wereproduced as a result of proteolytic cleavage of MPIF-1 which occurredduring the purification process. The MPIF-1 variants present in batchHG00300-B7 are discussed in Example 17.

TABLE 5 Primary Pharmacology - In Vitro Chemical Experimental DesignCell Type MPIF-1Δ23 Dose Agent Results Effect of MPIF-1 or MPIF-1Δ23 onHPP-CFC 0.01–100 ng/mL NA Both MPIF-1 and MPIF-1Δ23 caused a dose colonyformation using mouse bone LPP-CFC dependent reduction of the frequencyof LPP-CFCs. marrow MPIF-1Δ23 was significantly more effective thanMPIF-1 at all concentrations tested. Neither isoform had a significanteffect on the frequency of HPP-CFCs. Effect of MPIF-1Δ23 on the CD34⁺,  1–1000 ng/mL NA MPIF-1Δ23 treatment resulted in 20% to 40%proliferation of human hematopoietic human inhibition of cell survival.progenitor cells cord The results suggest that MPIF-1Δ23 is a myeloidblood progenitor inhibitory factor. Determination of the specific CD34⁺,50 ng/mL NA MPIF-1Δ23 inhibits (50% to 64%) the formation progenitorcell types targeted by human of CFU-GM and CFU-Mix. MPIF-1Δ23 Formationof BFU-E, CFU-G, CFU-M, and CFU-Meg were not inhibited. The resultsdefine MPIF-1Δ23 as an inhibitor of human granulocyte/monocyte precursorcells. Characterization of the inhibitory Mouse 50 ng/mL NA MPIF-1Δ23reduced the frequency of myeloid effects of MPIF-1Δ23 on mouse bone boneCFU-GM colonies to 30% of control. marrow marrow The frequency ofLPP-CFC colonies was reduced to 24% of control. MPIF-1Δ23 did notinhibit the formation of CFU-E, BFU-E and HPP-CFC colonies. Determinedthe ability of MPIF-1Δ23 Mouse NA 5-FU MPIF-1Δ23 protects 40% to 50% ofLPP-CFC to protect lineage-depleted populations bone from cytotoxicityinduced by 5-FU. of bone marrow cells from the marrow MPIF-1Δ23 did notprotect HPP-CFC. cytotoxic effects of 5-FU

TABLE 6 Primary Pharmacology - In Vivo Dose, MPIF-1 MPIF-1 Dose,Chemical Schedule, Experimental Design Species Batch Schedule, RouteAgent Route Endpoint In vivo effects of Mouse HG00300-B5 0.5 mg/kg/ NANA MPIF-1Δ23 significantly reduced the frequency of MPIF-1 or MPIF-1Δ23HG00304-E2 injection twice a LPP-CFC in bone marrow. on the frequency ofday at 8 hour The effects of MPIF-1Δ23 on the frequency of HPP-CFC andLPP-CFC intervals for LPP-CFC in blood were variable. in peripheralblood 2 days, i.p. MPIF-1Δ23 had no effect on the frequency of and bonemarrow HPP-CFC. Determination of the Mouse HG00304-E2   1 mg/kg, 5-FU150 mg/kg, MPIF-1Δ23 given on Days −2, −1, and 0 was most optimalMPIF-1Δ23 variable between Day 0, i.p. effective in protecting bonemarrow against the dosing schedule for Days −3 and cytotoxic effects of5-FU. protection against the 0, i.p. cytotoxic effects of 5-FUDetermination of dose Mouse HG00304-E6 to 10 mg/kg, i.p. 5-FU 150 mg/kg,A dose-dependent response was observed on Day dependency of on i.p. 4,with the best recovery occurring at the lowest MPIF-1Δ23 on Days −2, −1,0 dose tested (0.01 mg/kg). bone marrow No dose response was observed onDay 6. recovery after A bell shaped dose-response curve was obtained on5-FU Day 8, with optimal activity observed at 0.1 mg/kg. Determinationof Mouse HG00304-E6 mg/kg; 5-FU 150 mg/kg, Colony formation from bonemarrow of mice the ability of MPIF-1Δ23 Days −2, −1, 0, Day 0, i.p.treated with MPIF-1Δ23 returned to normal 7 to protect myeloid i.p. daysafter treatment with 5-FU. progenitors in vivo Bone marrow colonyformation from mice treated from cytotoxic therapy with 5-FU aloneshowed no recovery at this time. Determination of the Mouse HG00304-E6mg/kg, 5-FU 100 mg/kg, MPIF-1Δ23 protected progenitor cells after twoprotective effect of Days −2, −1, 0, 6, Days 0 and cycles of 5-FU.MPIF-1Δ23 against 7, 8 8, i.p. The most dramatic protection was seenafter the multiple cycles of second cycle of 5-FU. chemotherapy Thechemoprotective effect of MPIF-1Δ23 was manifest in the periphery byincreased numbers of hematopoietic-derived CD45⁺ cells in blood.Determination of the Mouse HG00304-E6 mg/kg; 5-FU 100 mg/kg, The degreeof neutropenia as measured by the ability of MPIF-1Δ23 Days −2, −1, 0,6, Days 0 and depletion of Gr-1 and Mac-1 double positive cells toaccelerate recovery 7, 8, i.p. 8, i.p. was significantly less and therate of recovery of bone marrow G-CSF  0.5 mg/kg, more rapid in micetreated with MPIF-1 and 5-FU colonies, neutrophils and Days 1, 2, 3,compared with that in mice treated with 5-FU alone. platelets aftermultiple 9, 10, and 11 Treatment with G-CSF after 5-FU resulted incycles of chemotherapy a rapid recovery of double positive Determinationof the cells in the blood. The extent of recovery in G-CSF activity ofMPIF-1Δ23 treated mice was markedly less than that observed in incombination with MPIF-1 treated mice on Day 8. G-CSF Mice treated withMPIF-1 and G-CSF had higher steady state levels of positive cells in theblood than those treated with either MPIF-1 or G-CSF alone. There was amarked decrease in colony formation from the bone marrow of mice treatedwith 5-FU. MPIF-1 treatment prior to 5-FU abrogated the effect of 5-FUon colony formation. There was a more rapid and stronger recovery ofplatelets in mice treated with MPIF-1 and 5-FU relative to that seen inmice treated with 5-FU alone. Addition of G-CSF had no further effect.

TABLE 7 Secondary Pharmacology - In Vitro Experimental Design Cell TypeMPIF-1 Batch MPIF-1 Dose Range Results Determination of calcium T cells,B cells, HG00300-B7   1 to 1000 ng/mL Detectable responses weremobilization by MPIF-1 or monocytes, neutrophils, HG00302-E2 observed inmonocytes and MPIF-1Δ23 basophils, dendritic cells, HG00302-E3 dendriticcells at 100 ng/mL. NK cells THP-1 cells HG00304-E2 The monocytic cellline HG00304-E3 THP-1 responded to MPIF-1Δ23 HG00304-E6 with a maximaleffect at HG00304-E7 100 ng/mL. HG00301-C1 HG00311-C1 Determination ofthe chemotactic T cells, monocytes, HG00300-B5 0.1 to 1000 ng/mLMPIF-1Δ23 stimulated activity of MPIF-1Δ23. neutrophils, lymphocytes,HG00300-B7 chemotaxis in resting T cells with eosinophils, basophils, NKHG00302-E1 a maximal response at 10 ng/mL. cells, platelets HG00302-E2MPIF-1Δ23 was HG00303-E1 chemotactic for freshly isolated HG00304-E2monocytes with a maximal effect HG00304-E6 at 100 ng/mL. HG00304-E7 Aweak chemotactic response was observed in neutrophils. There was noresponse in the other cells tested. Effect of MPIF-1 or MPIF-1Δ23Monocytes HG00300-B7 0.5 to 1000 ng/mL MPIF-1Δ23 induced a low onmonocytes HG00302-E1 but variable release of lysosomal HG00302-E2N-acetyl-β-D-glucosidase from HG00302-E3 freshly isolated monocytes.HG00304-E3 MPIF-1Δ23 had no effect on HG00304-E6 the release of thelysosonal HG00301-C1 enzymes elastase, glucuromidase, HG00311-C1 andmyleperoxidase. MPIF-1Δ23 does not induce monocytes to secrete IL-1β,TNF- α, IL-10, or IL-12. MPIF-1Δ23 had no effect on oxidative burst orcytotoxic activity of activated macrophages. Effect of MPIF-1 orMPIF-1Δ23 Basophils, human HG00300-B5   1 to 1000 ng/mL MPIF-1 andMPIF-1Δ23 did on histamine release HG00300-B7 not induce histaminerelease from HG00302-E2 basophils. HG00304-E6 Effect of MPIF-1 orMPIF-1Δ23 NK cells, human HG00302-E1   1 to 100 ng/mL MPIF-1 andMPIF-1Δ23 on NK cell-mediated killing HG00300-B7 had no effect on IL-2stimulated NK cell-mediated killing of K562 cells. Effect of MPIF-1 orMPIF-1Δ23 Platelets, human HG00302-E1 0.1 to 100 ng/mL MPIF-1Δ23 did notinduce on platelet aggregation HG00300-B7 or modulate plateletaggregation. Effect of MPIF-1Δ23 on the Fibroblasts, astrocytes,HG00300-B7 0.1 to 1000 ng/mL MPIF-1Δ23 did not induce, growth ofnon-transformed Schwann cells, smooth HG00300-B5 enhance, or inhibit thehuman cells muscle cells, epithelial HG00302-E1 proliferation of thecells listed cells, vein and studied. microvascular endothelial cells,bone marrow, B cells, T cells, monocytes, neutrophils, keratinocytesEffect of MPIF-1 or MPIF-1Δ23 Human primary HG00300-B5 0.1 to 1000 ng/mLMPIF-1 and MPIF-1Δ23 on the release of IL-6 and endothelial cells, lungHG00300-B7 had no effect on release of IL-6 or prostaglandinsfibroblasts, and aortic HG00302-E1 prostaglandins. smooth muscle cellsHG00300-E2 HG00304-E2 HG00301-C1 Effect of MPIF-1Δ23 on Primarymicrovascular HG00304-E2 0.1 to 100 ng/mL MPIF-1Δ23 did not induceformation of capillaries endothelial cells the formation of capillariesin vitro. Effect of MPIF-1 on ability of Primary endothelial cellsHG00300-B7 0.1 to 10 ng/mL No effect. tumor cells to infiltrate througha confluent monolayer of endothelial cells Effect of MPIF-1 or MPIF-1Δ23Primary endothelial cells HG00300-B5 0.1 to 100 mg/mL No effect. onadhesion of peripheral blood HG00300-B5 mononuclear cells orgranulocytes HG00304-E6 to IL-1 activated endothelium HG00304-E7HG00301-C1

EXAMPLE 30

Production, Recovery, and Purification of MPIF-1Δ23 Using the pHE4-5Expression Vector

MPIF-1 is a novel human β-chemokine. The mature form of MPIF-1 issecreted as a 99 amino acid peptide, with a molecular mass of 11.2 kDa.A truncated form (MPIF-1Δ23) 76 amino acids in length was alsoidentified during initial expression studies of MPIF-1. In a baculovirusexpression system, MPIF-1Δ23 was subsequently isolated and subcloned.Biological assays indicate that the truncated form is more active thanthe full length counterpart.

Cloning and Expression

The MPIF-1Δ23 gene originally isolated from an aortic endothelialcomplementary deoxyribonucleic acid library has been subcloned into theexpression vector pHE4 at the single restriction enzyme cleavage sitesNdeI and Asp 718 (FIG. 62) and has been transformed into the K12 derivedE. coli strain SG 13009 (available from Susan Gottesman, NationalInstitutes of Health, Bethesda, Md.). Additional strains of E. coliwhich may serve as suitable hosts for protein expression using pHE4include strains DH5α and W3110 (ATCC® Accession No.27325). The pHE4vector contains a strong synthetic promoter with two lac operators.Expression from this promoter is regulated by the presence of a lacrepressor, and is induced using isopropyl B-D-thiogalactopyranoside(IPTG) or lactose. The plasmid also contains an efficient ribosomalbinding site and a synthetic transcriptional terminator downstream ofthe MPIF-1Δ23 gene. The vector also contains the replication region ofpUC plasmids and the neomycinphosphotransferase gene resulting inkanamycin resistance in transformed bacteria.

Method of Manufacture

Overview of Fermentation Process

The fermentation process for MPIF-1Δ23 is outlined in following stagesand is illustrated in FIG. 63.

Master Seed Bank

A master cell bank (MCB) of E. coli transformed with the plasmidexpressing MPIF-1Δ23 was prepared under current Good ManufacturingPractices. The bank was prepared in media containing glycerol as acryopreservative, and frozen at −80° C. After preparation, the MCB wastested to assure the absence of phage or contamination with othermicro-organisms.

First Seed Stage

First seed stage culture is prepared in a baffled shake flask containinginoculum preparation medium. The shake flask is inoculated at a 1:2000dilution with thawed seed stock and is placed in a shaker maintained at225 rpm and 37° C. for 12 hours.

Production Phase

Production Phase culture is prepared in a 100 liter Fed-Batch fermenterequipped with DO₂, pH, temperature and nutrient feed control. Theproduction medium (37° C.) is inoculated with first seed stage cultureto provide an optical density (OD) of 0.20 units per milliliter at 600nm. When the culture reaches an OD of 10 plus or minus 2 units permilliliter at 600 nm, protein expression is induced with the addition ofIPTG (final concentration 20 mM). Cells are harvested 4 hours afterinduction.

Cell Harvest Phase

Bacteria are recovered by centrifugation at 18,000 g using a continuousflow centrifuge. The resulting cell paste is stored at −80° C.

Recovery of MPIF-1Δ23

The recovery of MPIF-1Δ23 is outlined in FIG. 64.

Cell Lysis

The E. coli cell paste is thawed and resuspended in ten volumes ofresuspension buffer. Cells are then disrupted following their passage(twice) through a homogenizer at 7000 psi.

Inclusion Body Wash

NaCl is added to the cell lysate to a final concentration of 0.5 M andthen concentrated two-fold by tangential flow filtration using a 0.45 μmmembrane. The remaining retentate is diafiltered against three volumeswash-2 buffer (100 mM Tris-HCl, 500 mM NaCl, and 25 mM EDTA-Na₂),followed by one volume wash-1 (100 mM Tris-HCl, 25 mM EDTA-Na₂). Theretentate is diluted two-fold with wash-i buffer, and the insolublefraction is collected by continuous centrifugation. Alternatively,inclusion bodies can be washed by centrifugation.

Inclusion Body Solubilization

The resulting pellet obtained following centrifugation is suspended inan equivalent of nine packed inclusion body volumes of solubilizationbuffer (100 mM Tris-HCl, 1.75 M Guanidine-HCl, and 25 mM EDTA-Na₂). Thesuspension is stirred initially for 2 to 4 hours at room temperature,and then for 12 to 18 hours at 2° to 10° C.

Refold

The suspension is centrifuged, and the supernatant is collected andmixed with nine volumes of refold buffer (100 mM Sodium Acetate, 125 mMNaCl, and 2 mM EDTA-Na₂). The diluted material is kept for about twohours (20 to 10° C.) to allow the precipitate to settle. The material isfiltered and then may be processed immediately or stored for up to 72hours and then processed.

Purification

HS-50 Cation Exchange Chromatography

The purification of MPIF-1Δ23 is outlined in FIG. 65. The filtrate isloaded onto a POROS HS-50 column equilibrated with 50 mM NaOAc, 150 mMNaCl, pH 5.8 to 6.2. The protein is eluted in a stepwise manner withNaCl (300 to 1500 mM). Fractions are eluted with 500 mM NaCl are pooledand are diluted two-fold with water for injection.

HQ-50/CM-20 Anion/Cation Exchange Chromatography

Pooled fractions obtained following HS-50 chromatography are loaded ontoa tandem set of columns (HQ-50 column followed by CM-20 column)equilibrated with CM-1 buffer. MPIF-1Δ23 is eluted from the CM-20 columnwith NaCl (100 to 900 mM). Eluted fractions are analyzed by sodiumdodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) andreverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), thosefractions containing MPIF-1Δ23 are pooled and concentrated byultrafiltration or passage through an additional HS-50 column.

Size Exclusion Chromatography

The CM-20 eluate is loaded onto a Sephacryl-100 HR equilibrated withS-100 buffer. Fractions are collected and analyzed by SDS-PAGE andreverse-phase HPLC. Fractions containing MPIF-1Δ23 are pooled,sterile-filtered using a 0.2 μm filter and stored at 2° to 10° C.

Specifications for Bulk Substance

The following specifications, listed in Table 8, have been establishedfor bulk MPIF-1Δ23.

TABLE 8 Tests and Tentative Specifications for Release of Bulk MPIF-1Δ23Description Specification Appearance Clear, colorless solution pH 5.8 ±0.2 Protein concentration by BCA 1–5 mg/mL Purity* Reverse-phase HPLC≧90% Size-exclusion HPLC ≧90% SDS-PAGE (Coomassie blue staining)Reducing conditions ≧90% Non-reducing conditions ≧90% Residual DNA ≦100pg per mg protein Endotoxin ≦10 EU per mg protein Limulus amoebocytelysate gel clot Bioassay (Assessed by Ca²⁺ Report results mobilizationassay)The purity of MPIF-1Δ23 preparations will be compared to a standardreference, the specifications for which are currently being defined.Specifications for Drug Product

The finished drug product meets all of the specifications as describedfor the bulk substance in Table 8, and is also tested for sterility(21CRF610.12).

MPIF-1Δ23 Mediated Inhibition of Colony Formation Correlates With theAbility of MPIF-1 to Mobilize Intracellular Ca²⁺ in Monocytes

MPIF-1Δ23 inhibits LPP-CFC colony formation in in vitro soft agar assaysand induces mobilization of intracellular calcium in monocytes includingTHP-1 cells (human myelomonocytic cell line). Both assays have been usedto assess biological activity of MPIF-1Δ23 in purification and stabilitystudies. In the LPP-CFC assay, freshly isolated murine bone marrow cellsare plated in soft agar in the presence of multiple cytokines (5 ng/mLIL-3, 50 ng/mL SCF, 5 ng/mL M-CSF, and 10 ng/mL IL-1α). Cultures areincubated for 14 days, after which time, colonies are scored using aninverted microscope.

Calcium mobilization assays use freshly isolated human monocytes orTHP-1 cells loaded with Fura-2 (0.2 nM per million). When cells arestimulated with MPIF-1Δ23, Ca²⁺ mobilization is assessed by afluorimeter. The Ca²⁺ mobilization assay provides a rapid indicatorregarding the activity of the MPIF-1Δ23 preparation (Table 9).

TABLE 9 MPIF-1Δ23 Mediated Inhibition of Colony Formation CorrelatesWith the Ability of MPIF-1 to Mobilize Intracellular Ca²⁺ in MonocytesCa2+ LPP-CFC mobilization inhibition MPIF-1 Construct/Batch/Condition(ng/mL)* (ng/mL)^(†) MPIF-1/HG00300-B5 1000 20–40  MPIF-1Δ23/HG00304-E2,stored at 100 5–10 4° C. for 3 months MPIF-1Δ23/HG00304, stored for 1100 5–10 week MPIF-1Δ23/HG00304, stored for 4 100 5–10 weeksMPIF-1/HG00302-E2, stored at 4° C. 1000  >100 for 3 monthsMPIF-1Δ23/HG00304-E3, first peak 100 5–10 from CM columnMPIF-1Δ23/HG00304-E4, second 100 5–10 peak from CM columnMPIF-1Δ23/HG00304-E3, third peak >1000  >1000 from CM column *Minimumconcentration required to mobilize calcium in human monocytes and/orTHP-1 cells. ^(†)Concentration producing 50% inhibition of LPP-CFCcolony formation compared to the control.Formulation and Storage

Bulk MPIF-1Δ23 is manufactured aseptically, and the liquid formulationis a sterile, single-use, product. The protein is buffered in 50 mMsodium acetate, 125 mM NaCl, pH 5.8, filled into a 5-mL Wheaton Type 1glass vials and stored at 2° to 8° C.

Stability

The stability study was performed using a protein concentration of 1.0mg/mL buffered with sodium acetate at pH 5, 6, and 7 at temperatures of−80° C., 2° to 8° C., 20° to 25° C., and 2° to 8° C. MPIF-1Δ23 has beenfound to be stable for at least six months when stored at or below 20 to8° C. in a solution of 10 mM sodium acetate, 125 mM NaCl at pH 5 to 7.In currently ongoing studies, samples will be assayed for appearance,protein concentration, purity (SDS-PAGE (reduced and nonreduced);reverse-phase and size-exclusion HPLC), and activity (Ca²⁺ mobilizationbioassay) to meet the specifications previously outlined.

A stability study for the MPIF-1Δ23 batch (HG00304-E10) used in thepreclinical toxicology studies was initiated. The MPIF-1Δ23 batch usedin these studies was formulated at a protein concentration of 4.0 mg/mLin 50 mM NaOAc, 125 mM NaCl, pH 5.9. The storage conditions are −80° C.,20 to 8° C., 25° C., and 37° C., at a relative humidity of 60%, and at45° C., at a relative humidity of 75%. The stability study duration is12 months for temperatures up to 25° C., 6 months at 37° C., and 1 monthat 45° C. The stability will be assayed for appearance, pH, proteinconcentration, purity (SDS-PAGE (reduced and non-reduced); reverse-phaseand size-exclusion HPLC), and activity (Ca²⁺ mobilization bioassay).Endotoxin assay and bioburden tests will be performed at selected timepoints.

It will be clear that the invention may be practiced otherwise than asparticularly described in the foregoing description and examples.

Numerous modifications and variations of the present invention arepossible in light of the above teachings and, therefore, are within thescope of the appended claims.

The disclosures of all patents, patent applications, and publicationsreferred to herein are hereby incorporated by reference.

1. An isolated antibody or fragment thereof that specifically binds to aprotein selected from the group consisting of: (a) a protein whose aminoacid sequence consists of amino acid residues 1 to 93 of SEQ ID NO:2;(b) a protein whose amino acid sequence consists of amino acid residues20 to 93 of SEQ ID NO:2; (c) a protein whose amino acid sequenceconsists of a portion of SEQ ID NO:2, wherein said portion is at least30 contiguous amino acid residues in length; and (d) a protein whoseamino acid sequence consists of a portion of SEQ ID NO:2, wherein saidportion is at least 50 contiguous amino acid residues in length.
 2. Theantibody or fragment thereof of claim 1 that specifically binds protein(a).
 3. The antibody or fragment thereof of claim 1 that specificallybinds protein (b).
 4. The antibody or fragment thereof of claim 1 thatspecifically binds protein (c).
 5. The antibody or fragment thereof ofclaim 1 that specifically binds protein (d).
 6. The antibody or fragmentthereof of claim 2 that specifically binds protein (b).
 7. The antibodyor fragment thereof of claim 3 wherein said protein bound by saidantibody or fragment thereof is glycosylated.
 8. The antibody orfragment thereof of claim 3 wherein said antibody or fragment thereof ishuman.
 9. The antibody or fragment thereof of claim 3 wherein saidantibody or fragment thereof is polyclonal.
 10. The antibody or fragmentthereof of claim 3 wherein said antibody or fragment thereof ismonoclonal.
 11. The antibody or fragment thereof of claim 3 which isselected from the group consisting of: (a) a chimeric antibody orfragment thereof; (b) a humanized antibody or fragment thereof; (c) asingle chain antibody; and (d) a Fab fragment.
 12. The antibody orfragment thereof of claim 3 which is labeled.
 13. The antibody orfragment thereof of claim 3 wherein said antibody or fragment thereofspecifically binds to said protein in a Western blot or an ELISA.
 14. Anisolated cell that produces the antibody or fragment thereof of claim 3.15. A hybridoma that produces the antibody or fragment thereof of claim3.
 16. A method of detecting M-CIF protein in a biological samplecomprising: (a) contacting the biological sample with the antibody orfragment thereof of claim 3; and (b) detecting the M-CIF protein in thebiological sample.
 17. An isolated antibody or fragment thereof thatspecifically binds a M-CIF protein purified from a cell culture whereinsaid M-CIF protein is encoded by a polynucleotide encoding amino acids 1to 93 of SEQ ID NO:2.
 18. The antibody or fragment thereof of claim 17wherein said antibody or fragment thereof is monoclonal.
 19. Theantibody or fragment thereof of claim 17 wherein said antibody orfragment thereof is polyclonal.
 20. The antibody or fragment thereof ofclaim 17 wherein said antibody or fragment thereof is human.
 21. Theantibody or fragment thereof of claim 17 which is selected from thegroup consisting of: (a) a chimeric antibody or fragment thereof; (b) ahumanized antibody or fragment thereof; (c) a single chain antibody; and(d) a Fab fragment.
 22. The antibody or fragment thereof of claim 17wherein said antibody or fragment thereof specifically binds to saidprotein in a Western blot or an ELISA.
 23. The antibody or fragmentthereof of claim 17 wherein the amino acid sequence of said M-CIFprotein consists of amino acid residues 20 to 93 of SEQ ID NO:2.